


The Choices We Make

by Eksdee (Faceless_Void)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-07-28 06:55:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 64,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7629625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faceless_Void/pseuds/Eksdee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Severus Snape decided to save Lily and James Potter on his own on that fateful Halloween night? How would growing up with his loving parents affect Harry Potter on his way of becoming the saviour of the Magical World? And how could it possibly change the fate of Draco Malfoy? The choices we make is what truly shapes our lives. And this time, things will be different!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another Destiny

**WARNING!**

**Before you start reading the story, you should know that it contains the following traits:**

**A completely different timeline, naturally;**   
**Strong and smart Harry who is the protagonist of the story;**   
**Strong and independent Draco;**   
**Light Hermione bashing in the beginning of the story due to main heroes' personalities which totally don't match her default 11 years old self;**   
**The main pairing is Harry x Daphne;**   
**Draco x Hermione is a side pairing that will not get the primary focus, although they are main heroes as well;**   
**There will be multiple PoV's throughout the story.**

**Enjoy and don't forget to review! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything I haven't created.**

* * *

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Chapter 1. Another Destiny

Severus Snape was panting as he turned on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or someone. Despite the man's skill and power exceptional for his age, his fear was nearly palpable in anticipation of the threat he had come to meet here.

Then, before he could utter a spell, a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air. It looked similar to a natural lightning, yet still Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand.

"Don't kill me!"

"That was not my intention."

The sound of Albus Dumbledore apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before the trembling young man with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.

"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"

"No—no message—I'm here on my own account!"

Snape was wringing his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.

"I—I come with a warning—no, a request—please—"

Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the heavy night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.

"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"

"The—the prophecy... the prediction… Trelawney…"

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"

"Everything—everything I heard!" replied Snape. "That is why—it is for that reason—he thinks it means Lily Evans!"

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July—"

"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down—kill them—"

"If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"

"I have—I have asked him—"

"You disgust me," said Dumbledore, and there was so much contempt in his voice that Snape seemed to shrink a little, "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"

Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.

"Hide them all, then," he croaked. "Keep her—them—safe. Please."

"And what will you give in return, Severus?"

"In—in return?" Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and for a mere second it seemed like he was about to protest, yet still after a long moment he said, "Anything."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed thoughtfully at the cringed man, and the old wizard lowered his wand, not moving his gaze away for a second.

"That choice is not for me to make."

Snape's face paled as he mumbled, looking overly nervous and confused,

"What—what's the meaning of this...?"

"I was aware of your little plot with the prophecy, Severus. You can hardly make a good spy, make no mistake. The Potters are already hidden and safe... however," he added before Snape's features could relax in relief, "Seeing as you have come here tonight, I can tell that you seek something else. Something much deeper and far more important than just saving Lily Potter's life."

There was a pause. Despite the baffled expression, tears filled the black eyes that widened in disbelief for a moment, but then the young wizard frowned, restraining himself from jumping to any conclusions.

"Just—just what are you talking about...?"

The old man's face remained impassive, though just on the brink of becoming aggressive.

"You seek redemption. I can see it clearly, Severus. But that is not something I could grant you."

Snape let out a heavy sigh, lowering his head in defeat and looking completely drained.

"Nobody... can grant me redemption at this point. The—the only thing I'm asking for is—"

"That would be correct, Severus. Nobody else but yourself."

The Death Eater's head snapped as he met the piercing gaze of the shining blue eyes covered by the glasses, and he felt even more confused and lost now.

"I—I still don't understand—"

"You shall go away now, Severus. And when the time is right, you will know that it is your choice that is to decide everything in the end."

_My choice..._

"Until then, get out of my sight."

* * *

Gripping his wand tightly, Severus Snape strode softly across the small unfamiliar alley covered by the night, ignoring the heavy rain and recalling this conversation from a few weeks ago.

Albus Dumbledore... he was probably the wisest man to ever live in their world, without a doubt. Because there was no other way... no possible way for the old man to predict this very moment so clearly, unless he was a prophet like that crazy woman Trelawney, of course, which wasn't the case so far as Severus was aware.

The old wizard had calculated his very being, of that the young man was now absolutely sure by now. And he didn't mind that at all — after all, he was merely exchanging one powerful master to another.

The only difference there was that one of them was the master of death, and the other was the master of life.

As he had realized this, loving Lily as much as he did, Severus had already known what choice he would make when the time Dumbledore had spoken about would come.

And the time was now. Tonight everything would be over.

Last night he, Severus, had become a witness of something he had been silently looking forward to. Peter Pettigrew, that pathetic little rat Potters considered their friend... he had betrayed them.

Perhaps it was merely a coincidence, the fact that Severus had managed to find out about that. But thanks to that, he knew now what he had to do ever so clearly. It was the only option for him, he new realized. The redemption Dumbledore had implied back when they had met.

This was his chance to get everything back and to destroy the evil Lily hated so much once and for all. And he wouldn't miss the opportunity no matter the cost.

Finally noticing the roof of the house he was heading to, Snape threw a short glance at his watch and hastened a little.

The Dark Lord would be there any moment now, and being late for this rendezvous was not an option, obviously. Fortunately enough, Severus had a nearly perfect plan involving his most hated rival as well as their beloved woman.

Despite his old and deep hatred and jealousy towards James Potter, Severus was by no means a fool. He realized that Potter was an extraordinary powerful wizard, perhaps even the most powerful one in their generation, and so was Lily.

Together they would be able to put an end to his old master. They would destroy him with everything they had, and what Severus could provide there was something that was traditionally considered one of Slytherin's typical moves.

An ambush.

Stopping right next to the turn that led to the end of the alley, Snape raised his wand and squinted at the door of the house he was seeing for the first time in his life, feeling the familiar hatred and jealousy gripping his heart as tightly as usual.

Had the circumstances been different, it could've been his home... and Lily could've been his wife, raising their child in happiness and warmth the young wizard lacked so much nowadays.

If only Potter...

He gritted his teeth in irritation, shaking his head and trying to get rid of these thoughts that had been decaying his mind for years.

No, James Potter had nothing to do with his life taking the wrong turn. Only he, Severus, was to be blamed for that... it had always been his choices that had led to this.

Fortunately enough, tonight he would fix it all... or just die trying, which was also a good option in his opinion. There was hardly anything to lose at this point, after all. At least his suffering would be over in one way or another, which gave him the strange, relieving feeling of misplaced tranquility.

Noticing the shadow popping up out of nowhere in front of the house he was watching, Severus gripped his wand tighter, walking soundlessly towards the tall figure wrapped in a dark robe who strode to the door, taking its own wand out of the folds of the mantle.

As the shadow raised its hand up in the air to open the door, Severus was about to rush forward and back stab it with his own signature spell when he heard the quiet, hissing voice that sounded nearly like a friendly whisper right behind his back,

"So... is this the extent of your brilliance, Severus?"

The eyes of the Death Eater widened in fear as he noticed that the shadow was gone from the entrance to the house now, but his reflexes didn't fail him — he jumped away and turned around right in time to dodge a bright purple flash of Lord Voldemort's unknown spell.

It was now or never then, Severus decided.

 _Sectumsempra!_ The invisible blades pierced the chest of the Dark Lord with surprising ease, making him scream in pain and anger as the burning red eyes squinted hatefully.

But then he laughed, and the cursed wounds disappeared as if the spell was nothing but a little annoyance.

"Severus. I should have known that you were but a pathetic treacherous bug. Did you seriously think that a lackluster such as yourself could ever hope to defeat me down? Please."

Snape paled, trying desperately to calm down — his hand was shaking dangerously in utter fear.

He was right. The Dark Lord was absolutely right — there was no way for him to defeat this... being. Was it over now? Were they all about to die?

 _The choice is up to you,_ Dumbledore's voice echoed in the corner of his mind.

"Right... I—I admit that this was foolish of me. But before you kill me... can I ask you one question, my lord?"

Voldemort glared at him searchingly for a few seconds before sneering,

"Fine, I'm in a good mood tonight. You shall have your last wish, filth."

Severus swallowed before muttering quietly, as if the question was actually addressed to himself,

"If you were fighting three wizards like me right now, what our chances would be?"

The Dark Lord looked confused for a second before he began to laugh again.

"There would be no chances, Severus, even if there were a thousand failures like you facing me. You have attended a muggle school, haven't you? Multiply zero by three, and it's still a zero. Now... prepare to die. _Avada_ —"

Before he finished the sentence, Snape jumped away and turned around again, aiming his wand at the door of Potters' house.

_Reducto!_

The abnormally strong explosion interrupted Voldemort's spell, making him wince and cover his face for a moment, which was more than enough for Snape — the young wizard rushed towards the house, leaning against the door that remained intact thanks to the Fidelius Charm and raising his hand, seemingly preparing to strike or defend himself, but in reality just showing whoever would come from the other side of the door that he was engaged in combat with the Dark Lord rather than assisting him.

"Come on, Lily... please...," he whispered, and given the circumstances of the situation they were in, it sounded more like a prayer on his part.

And then the door opened quickly, making him lose the balance and nearly fall down, but the strong arm gripped his collar from behind, pulling him inside of the house and throwing him at the wooden floor, closing the door the next second just in time for it to block the flash of the killing curse.

"Lily, his wand!" Before Severus could say a word, his only weapon left his trembling fingers — raising his head, he saw his beloved woman holding it tightly, as if preparing to break the wand in pieces. And her eyes...

They radiated hatred. Something that looked so misplaced in these emerald irises...

"Now then, you piece of shit. Name at least one reason why I shouldn't kill you right away!" Snape felt the rough poke of another wand on his throat, gasping and raising his eyes up to meet another hateful gaze — although this one was very well known.

"I... the explosion! I d-did that on purpose t-to warn you a-about _his_ approach!" He stuttered, too confused and perplexed to be able to find the right words with his enemy ready to take him to the afterlife.  
He needed to find a way to convince them... The Dark Lord was arrogant, and he clearly didn't consider them a threat, so he didn't rush to enter the house which gave Severus about a minute to do something to make it work. And although that won them some time, it was barely enough.

"Oh?" The light brown eyes narrowed suspiciously with a hint of mock behind the glasses. "Or maybe you are just an idiot who tried to break into our house bluntly? Why would we trust you at all, Snivellus?"

Suppressing the urge to clench his fists in anger, Snape swallowed heavily before opening his mouth, picking the words very carefully,

"I—I swear. I can't give you the unbreakable vow now since I don't have my wand, but... Look, Potter," he tried to sound as convincing and sincere as possible — something he nearly never did, "It is our only chance to kill him. The three of us, we could make it. And he will come here any moment now. If we don't join forces, you are dead anyway. All of you!" He flinched, noticing that Lily was pointing her wand at him as well now, standing next to the small cradle with her left hand on its railing.

"I thought you were smarter than this, Severus. This is a very silly bluff. We are under Fidelius. He won't be able to enter the house."

"You've been betrayed!"

She rolled her green eyes and snorted in irritation. Clearly neither of them believed him... as a matter of fact, they were absolutely sure that they were safe!

"Honey, please, just stun him now. I don't want him spurting this nonsense here any longer. Let's just take him to Dumbledore and—"

"No. Wait," Snape looked into the eyes of James again, and, surprisingly enough, there was no anger anymore — only deep concern and a note of suspicion. "If you are telling the truth... then you surely know the name of the Secret Keeper?"

Snape grinned triumphantly. Never in his life he would have assumed that he would be praising Potter's intelligence, even though he did it silently.

"Peter Pettigrew!"

The brown eyes widened in terror as James lowered his hand.

"Lily... give him his wand back, grab Harry and get upstairs! Now!"

"I won't leave you—!"

"I said _now_!"

The redhead threw the wand at Severus who caught it midair, raising up from the floor on his shaking legs. But before either of them could say or do anything else, the door opened slowly at last, letting Lord Voldemort in.

"So... Dumbledore's vaunted lapdogs are all in place, although they seem to be aware of my plan. How... disappointing, Severus," he turned his head to glance at the Death Eater who stepped back reflexively, leaning against the wall with his wand pointed at his master. "You have spoiled such a beautiful plan. _Crucio_!"

The incredible pain made the young man fall onto his knees, crying and yelling desperately in agony.

"Lily, I told you to get out of here! I'll take care of him!"

"I won't leave you—"

"Oh?" The red eyes narrowed in amusement, and the Dark Lord stopped torturing his former servant the next second. "Take care of me, you say? The nerve... I'm about to applaud, James Potter. This has just earned you a special gift. Instead of a quick death I planned for you originally, now I'll make sure that your anguished cries serve as a testament to my power. I will make the mudblood and this traitor watch every moment of your misery."

"Dumbledore is already on his way. Lucky us, Snape has triggered the wards with that blast. All we have to do now is to stall you for a few minutes, Voldemort. How long does it take to get to the gates of Hogwarts? Hardly more than ten minutes, don't you think so? And I bet the old man knows more than a few secret passages to make it faster."

The mocking grin disappeared from the paper white face that resembled a snake and the warlock stepped forward.

"That is truly unfortunate, James. I'm feeling upset... it looks like I will have to finish all of you quickly, after all. Fine, I don't mind being merciful today. _Avada_ —"

"Stupefy!" He blocked Lily's spell with ease, not noticing that Severus was slowly raising up behind his back.

"Or perhaps I should start with the mudblood? I don't know, all the options are so tempting... perhaps you would give me an advise, James? Whom should I kill first?" His eyes widened slightly as a familiar green flash came out of the young wizard's wand, but he dodged it effortlessly as well. "Interesting... maybe I was wrong to underestimate you, young Potter. Such a shame... you should've joined me long ago instead of hobnobbing with this filthy brethren. And now your talent and power will be wasted... that is truly disappointing," He shook his head, looking sincerely upset.

"I can see that you really like talking a lot. As far as I know, you value the purity of blood, don't you?" Voldemort didn't respond, just keeping gazing at James, allowing him to continue. "Then I will tell you something you should be able to understand. As the heir to my line, I don't find it appropriate seeing an ugly half blood criminal bastard in my family house, especially when this half blood is threatening to kill my wife and my son. Maybe I wouldn't mind it that much if you killed Snivellus, though," he glanced somewhere behind the Dark Lord's back before returning the laughing gaze of the brown eyes to meet the hateful glare of the red ones. "But I guess it can't be helped. You won't be leaving this house now that you have entered it. In one way or another, you will die here today. And even if we are to sacrifice ourselves for that to happen, I'm more than ready to do it. Unlike you, I do not fear death."

Voldemort was clearly losing his patience now, appearing pretty angered by the words of James, especially knowing that the man was saying the truth about his origins — that was the most irritating and perhaps even hurtful part.

"You are a fool, Potter. You have just wasted your only chance to—ugh!" He gasped, falling onto his knee and gripping his bleeding leg — too distracted by his own emotions raised by the words of James, he didn't notice Severus casting another _Sectumsempra_ spell at him. And although the wound began healing rapidly again by some miraculous means none of the young wizards present in the room could figure out, it was exactly the opening they needed.

" _Avada Kedavra!_ " Shouted James, but his spell was blocked the instant he cast it by the boulder Voldemort conjured right in front of him.  
_Expelliarmus!_ Lily's spell hit the stone as well — the boulder was levitated to the side to counter the red ray.

 _Fiendfyre!_ The incredibly hot magical flames engulfed Voldemort's wandless hand, making the warlock scream in pain and frustration as he cut his own limb down the next moment, but it was too late – his clothes were already burning as well, making him disapparate away and reappear right behind Lily's back, already wrapped in a different robe that was rapidly soaking the blood streaming down from the remains of his arm.

And just as he raised his wand again, with a loud pop, Albus Dumbledore appeared next to James, instantly casting the charm that prevented the further usage of apparition on the area around them, and then making the dark magical fire disappear away from the floor.

"It is over, Tom. You have lost."

The Dark Lord groaned in anger as Lily turned around, nearly dropping her wand accidentally as she saw his face this close to her.

"Not quite, Dumbledore... I shall still do what I have come for. _Avada Kedavra_!" He pointed his wand at Harry who was crying in his cradle, awakened by the noise of the fight.

"NO!" Lily screamed in horror, jumping to block the green flash; at the same time, multiple things happened at the same time.

A white lightning sent by Dumbledore reached Voldemort's shoulder, making him fall down and thus dodge the killing curse sent by James.

And when the Dark Lord's spell was about to reach Lily's chest, Severus flicked his wand in the last second, making the invisible magical force throw the woman out of the spell's trajectory, followed by hers cry of desperation as they all watched death coming inevitably upon the innocent child who was completely helpless against it.

The killing curse hit the infant boy's head, but instead of killing him, it backfired, taking the life of the most powerful Dark Wizard alive the next moment.

The silence that fell upon the room then was only broken by the thud made by the bleeding corpse of Voldemort that fell down to the floor.

Lily Potter was the first person to get out of the state of shock. She screamed, jumping up and rushing to Harry's cradle, only to gasp and fall down onto her knees, not believing her own eyes.

The child was there, alive and well. He was giggling now, looking at his mother happily, and the only thing that gave away the fact that he had been hit by Voldemort's curse was the lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

She hugged her son with her trembling hands, pressing him to her chest and closing her eyes, unable to hold back the sobbing.

"What... the hell?" James mumbled, striding towards his wife and bowing down to hug her and their child, though looking at the gray haired old wizard perplexedly. "Is he—"

"The prophecy has been fulfilled, so it seems," Dumbledore lowered his wand, coming close to Potters and looking at the boy who appeared to be happy and perfectly fine all in all. "Young Harry is certainly the Chosen One. And Tom Riddle is gone... for now, at least."

Snape, who had been watching the scene in front of him this whole time with his eyes open wide, smiled perplexedly, as if unsure if he had the right to be glad for what had just happened.

_They... they did it, didn't they?_

But something still felt seriously wrong. And as Lily opened her eyes, he realized what exactly that was.

She looked at him with killing intent.

"Get—get this bastard out of my house. Now. Or else I will fucking murder him!" She cried, pushing James away and pointing her wand at her former friend.

"Lily, woah! Honey, what are you doing? Stop!"

"Stop, you say? This piece of treacherous shit tried to kill my son! He wanted Voldemort to kill Harry!"

Severus gasped. Although he had realized it a few seconds ago that she was thinking something among these lines, hearing her saying such words, especially directed at him... it was far more painful than the Dark Lord's... no, Voldemort's Cruciatus curse.

"I—I just tried to save you! You were about to die, and—"

"It's not your fucking right to decide who is to live and who is to die, you idiot! His spell hit Harry! And it should've been me instead of him!

"Honey, please, just chill. It's alright, everyone is alive—"

"No, it's not alright, James! Are you crazy? Are _you_ , of all people, going to defend him now?" She glared at her husband, making him look away uncomfortably while Dumbledore was just watching them patiently without making a sound.

"I understand how it looks from your perspective, Lily. I truly do. But you really need to calm down now. Harry is alive, we are all alive. Whatever he did is irrelevant at the moment. We will deal with it later, there are more important things to handle right now." He put his palm onto her forearm gently, making the woman lower her wand and hug their son again, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

James looked at Dumbledore who was still there, looking at him with compassion and a bit of curiosity.

"Can you take the corpse away? I need to have a word with Snape now."

"Of course."

James nodded, stroking Lily's hair one last time before walking towards the exit, nodding at Severus who still looked completely shocked and lost.

"Let's go outside. We need to talk."

The Death Eater nodded slowly, following his rival outside and closing the door behind their backs.

James didn't go too far away — he sat down onto the porch, gripping his head and making his messy black hair look even more wild.

Severus hesitated for a moment sitting down and avoiding James' gaze purposely. He had no idea what to say or do in a situation like this.

"Look, Snape... unlike Lily, I'm not blinded by my parental instincts. I understand what you tried to do. And I appreciate it."

The former Slytherin student snorted, although there was no familiar venom in his voice as he retorted,

"As if I'm supposed to care what you think, Potter."

There was a moment of silence before James sighed, lowering his head.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Snape turned his head, looking at his foe incredulously.

"Shoot it."

"Why did you decide to betray him, in the end?"

Severus looked up in the sky, this time actually enjoying the cold drops of rain covering his face.

"What makes you think that I didn't plan this since the very moment I joined him?"

"The fact that I know you does. You always hated me, didn't you? And what changed?"

"I did. And you hated me too, Potter, so it's only fair."

"Nah, not really."

Snape met the brown eyes, looking at James with uncovered irony.

"Sure, tell me about it."

"It's true. I never hated you, I guess... It all started because of Lily. I've been in love with her since our first year, you know—"

"And I had loved her long before that. But it's irrelevant. She loves you and hates me now, and I'm not going to interfere. Although everything turns to be in your favor as usual, actually... I think I'm going to pick my own path from here on. Maybe all my problems happened because of this... because I always chased the life that was never mine to begin with, and would never be mine anyway. As for the past... let it stay in the past, Potter. That time is gone with the Dark Lord—I mean, Voldemort."

James grinned.

"Well said, I guess. So... what are we going to do with all the mess now?"

Snape looked at him thoughtfully.

"Albeit a lot of things have changed, we'll never be able to become friends. But... I suppose I can forgive you. For everything you and your idiotic friends did."

The auror nodded, this time looking dead serious.

"Thanks. I guess it doesn't mean shit to you, but I'm sorry."

This time, Severus smirked, replying after a few seconds of silence.

"You are right. It doesn't mean shit to me."

The door behind their backs opened again, making the two men turn around and see Dumbledore walking out of the house and stopping next to them.

"James, I suggest you to go to your wife now. She needs comfort above everything else right now. As for you, Severus... please, follow me to my office. We have a lot to discuss. And James," he looked at his former student again as the young wizards were getting up from the porch. "Tom's body is gone now, as well as all the signs of what happened here tonight. I understand that you need some time to rest now, but I expect you to meet you tomorrow in the morning. We need to decide what to do with... everything," he finished the sentence indefinably, apparently not wanting to reveal too much in Snape's presence.

"Can we call Sirius and Remus to come...?"

"Feel free to do so."

James nodded slowly, meeting the calm gaze of Snape one last time before returning to his house.

Dumbledore didn't lie — within just a few minutes, the old man had fixed everything in the room, making it look absolutely intact. Harry's cradle was empty — apparently his son was upstairs in their bedroom with Lily.

He walked up the wooden staircase, entering their room and coming close to his wife who was lying on their bed, hugging Harry tightly and not moving at all save for the quiet breathing.

James sat onto the edge of the bed, putting his palm onto Lily's hip and feeling lost for a second as he looked closely at the scar on Harry's head.

"Dumbledore said that he will return," the redhead uttered quietly in a few seconds, making James flinch and look at her with confusion.

"Who?"

"Voldemort. He said that he isn't really dead, just incapacitated. And he still has a way to revive himself."

James sighed, smiling reassuringly.

"Then we will train ourselves to become more skillful and powerful when he returns so that we're able to kick his ass. Simple."

"Harry is the only one who can really destroy him according to the prophecy."

The wizard stared at his wife as his brow cocked skeptically.

"The prophecy? And you believe it...?"

She simply shrugged, still looking too shocked to express any emotions.

"It would be stupid not to believe it after what happened here. One doesn't simply survive the killing curse, James."

The gaze of the brown eyes moved to the child who giggled again, as if understanding what his mother had just said.

"Well, I guess you have a point... then we'll have to raise Harry to become much stronger than any of us. Still simple."

It felt incredibly relieving to see Lily's emotionless mask finally break into a tiny, weak smile.

"There is nothing that can break your optimism, is there?"

"Nope. Nothing." He grinned happily, lying onto the bed so that he could embrace both Lily and Harry with his hand, meeting the exhausted and still slightly anxious gaze of his wife.

"James..."

"What?"

"I love you."

He smiled.

"I love you too. Both of you."

They closed their eyes, enjoying the silence, warmth and comfort of the room. They would call their friends later, James decided.

They had all the time in the world, after all.


	2. The Two Shards

**Chapter 2. The Two Shards**

In spite of the nearly abnormal heat in London, the air in Knockturn Alley seemed to be way too cold for this time of the year, almost magically so. It was especially notable comparing to the nearly opposite atmosphere in Diagon Alley, and this strange contrast made everyone who entered this dark, gloomy place feel unusually calm and relaxed. It could seem that even if some bitter enemies met here today, they would like to have a truce for a while just to enjoy this bizarre tranquility.

But there were exceptions, of course. For instance, to say that young Draco Malfoy was absolutely terrified and panicked would be a huge understatement. In fact, the boy was about to faint as he leaned against the rough cobblestone wall of some apothecary, pleading silently for all the shadows around to keep ignoring him as they had been doing so far — after all, he was just a child, nothing significant... or at least he hoped they thought this way.

Just a little boy who had managed to get lost in Knockturn Alley, being completely on his own since noon, for about an hour by now. Who could possibly be interested in him anyway?

Although the child kept wondering why his father hadn't found him yet, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the idea of meeting Lucius Malfoy now was maybe even more frightening to him than what he was feeling at the moment. Because knowing his father, Draco was bound to receive some very serious punishment, without a doubt. He had gotten hurt before for much lesser failures than this one, and now it was certainly his fault that he had gotten lost here in this unwelcoming place.

In fact, he had merely wanted to chase that beautiful crow while his father had been too engrossed in the conversation with that vendor named Borgin — an unpleasant sycophant, much like most of those with whom Lucius Malfoy had business nowadays. Naturally, little Draco had felt very bored as he'd had to wait for them to finish their discussion which had seemed to be unending, and now... here he was, unsure what to fear more — his father's wrath or all these scary people around.

Sliding down the rough, cold wall, Draco hugged himself, closing his eyes in a silent, cramped prayer. According to his father's words, he was supposed to be able to command magic, wasn't he? And if he asked magic nicely, surely it would help him like it always helped others...

But sadly enough, it didn't, and with each second passing the boy felt the cold fingers of fear and despair gripping his throat more and more tightly.

The truth was that he was completely alone, and there was nobody and nothing that could possibly rescue him from this awful place. Not even magic itself.

And just as he was about to start sobbing out of despair, someone's cold nail touched and then scratched his cheek painfully, making the boy flinch and shrink, opening his eyes and staring at the ugly wrinkled face of the man that was looking at him with uncovered greed as well as something else the child couldn't quite distinguish.

"Look whom we got here, eh... what are you doing here all alone, boy? Oh," the old man's lips twisted into a weird, creepy smile, revealing his disgusting dark yellow teeth. "You are crying... how cute. Don't worry, sweetie. I will take care of you..."

Draco's light gray eyes widened in horror.

"N-no... Don't—don't touch me...!"

"Hush, brat. I won't hurt you, don't worry. Just come with me, and we'll spend some wonderful time together! Get up now," his thick fingers gripped the collar of Draco's white shirt, making the boy scream in utter panic, but people around them didn't seem to care at all — they just kept passing by, not paying the scene any attention whatsoever. The offspring of Lucius Malfoy wasn't familiar with the term of irony yet due to his age, but if he were, he would probably have found the situation pretty ironic considering that this was exactly what he had wished for just a minute ago.

But on the other hand, that wish never included this monster that was now pulling him somewhere against his will...

Trying desperately to get out of the iron grip, the resisting boy flinched and tripped as he heard someone's strong, unfamiliar voice,

"Hey, you there! Take your hands off the kid!"

The old man stopped, and his eyes narrowed at someone who stood under the arch that led to Diagon Alley.

Someone who was wearing the dark blue uniform... _an auror!_  
Draco felt the small beam of hope warming his heart up a little. Aurors were supposed to protect wizards. Maybe this one would save him?

"Oh, I'm sorry, I believe it's just a misunderstanding, sir. You see, my grandson is not exactly well mannered, so he's making a fuss here while I'm trying to take him home. He will not be bothering anyone here any longer, I promise—"

"I told you to get your hands off him, didn't I? Don't you see who you're talking to, pest?"

Draco couldn't see the auror's face clearly for he was still trying to slip out of the old man's grasp, but evidently his abductor himself could, seeing as he let the boy go the the next second, making young Malfoy smack onto the dirty ground, wincing and gasping in pain.

"I—oh! I'm so sorry! I—"

"You _what_ , Xhul? What will be your excuse this time?" The boy stared at the auror now that he had the opportunity to study his saviour a little. The man had brown eyes, his hair was black and wild, which made Draco assume that he was not a pureblood seeing as he clearly didn't pay much attention to his looks. He also had a short, half an inch long chin curtain beard without a mustache, and aside from the uniform, he wore simple glasses that looked pretty cheap — yet another piece of evidence to the fact that he was a lowlife, as his father called the likes of him.

As the man came closer to them, Draco also noticed the boy that was gazing at him curiously from behind the auror's back. He was probably around his age, not older than seven, and he looked very similar to the auror except for the bright green eyes and ... the scar on his forehead?

_It can't be...!_

"I—well, Mr. Potter, actually I just noticed that this child was feeling very uncomfortable here, so I decided to take him back to his parents as soon as possible, you see. Apparently the brat had run away from Mr. Malfoy, and I didn't want him to put a shade on his father's glorious name by letting everyone around find out about his awful behavior. I guess it's too late now anyway, eh... But you see, this place is definitely not suited for children like him and...," he paused, moving his gaze to the other boy who met the yellowish, unhealthy looking eyes absolutely impassively, "The Boy Who Lived, of course. Don't you think so, Mr. Potter?"

It all clicked for Draco now. These people weren't lowlifes. They were much worse...

This time, everyone around them seemed to be a little interested — of course, none of them dared to stop and watch what was going on as the reputation of James Potter preceded him, but at the same time, nearly everyone seemed to slow down a little bit to take a peek at the second boy.

Of course, Draco knew why.

It was Harry Potter, the one who had miraculously destroyed the Dark Lord shortly after his birth. Everyone knew something about him, and as far as Draco was aware, James Potter's offspring was someone disliked a lot by his father, as well as the auror himself. Ever since the day he was born, the boy had been told that Potters were a family of blood traitors and that he, Draco, should always stay away from them.

Until this day, there was no reason to doubt that advise.

But now... this 'blood traitor' had just saved him from something dire. Surely Draco was still very young and naive, being raised pretty much isolated from society, but he was not completely oblivious. It was more than obvious that this scary old man wouldn't do him any good. There were rumors that some warlocks abducted children to use them in their dark rituals, and none of these kids were found alive after that. And this old man definitely looked like someone capable of committing such things...

Draco moved his eyes to James Potter then, staring at the man incredulously and trying to decide what to think about his saviour.

He looked scary, too, but not in a bad way. And he was also angry. Very angry, much like Lucius Malfoy was whenever his son did something especially inappropriate. But at the same time, this wrath was directed at his, Draco's offender... not at himself. And that was amusing to watch.

"Both of them are under my protection now. Get the hell outta here unless you want me to send you to Azkaban tonight. And trust me, I shall do it if you don't disappear right away. I couldn't care less about how influential your friends are; they are all nothing to me. Just like you, Xhul."

The older man grinned mockingly, bowing down theatrically and flicking some dust off Draco's white shirt before stepping away from the boy.

"As you wish, Mr. Potter. I wouldn't dare to go against the orders of the Head of Auror Office himself."

"Just get lost already, you mongrel!"

The man disapparated, and people around the three of them hastened again the next second, probably realizing that the show was now over and not wanting to meddle with James.

"Now then," the auror came closer, giving the blond boy a hand to help him get up from the ground, which he took hesitantly, "Your name is Draco, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, sir," he stuttered, blushing and looking away sheepishly. The auror didn't look angry anymore, but it was still a little bit scary to meet his piercing gaze.

"Is it true what Xhul said? Did you run away from your father?"

The gray eyes of the boy widened in fear again.

"No—no! Actually, it's—uh—well—I guess...," he mumbled, lowering his head in shame. It made The Boy Who Lived chuckle, which in turn made Draco glance at him hatefully.  
It wasn't funny at all...!

James' features softened as he patted young Malfoy's head, rustling his hair and smiling reassuringly.

"And why did you do that? Don't you know how dangerous this place is?"

Draco bit his lip, trying to find the right words and to get a hold of himself. This person wasn't his father. He had no right to punish him anyway, so there was no reason to be afraid of telling the truth.

"I—I do... it's just—well—I wanted to catch that bird, and..." He stopped, realizing how ridiculous that probably sounded.  
But neither James nor Harry laughed. Instead, The Boy Who Lived asked casually,

"What kind of bird? An owl?"

Draco stared at him, thinking for a few seconds before finally muttering,

"No... a crow."

Harry looked around curiously, adjusting the glasses on his nose.

"A crow? Here?" There were no birds visible around, which was hardly surprising — Knockturn Alley was probably the most popular place among dark wizards in London, and someone would certainly catch such a smart bird as a crow as soon as it appeared here.

"Yes. A very big one. I thought about catching and taming it because I want a pet, but I got lost," said Draco, surprised by his own sudden bravery. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he didn't want to look weaker than this celebrity, and also he certainly didn't want to be ridiculed by him or his father.

"If you want a pet, why don't you just ask your dad to buy you one, then? Would be much easier, wouldn't it?" asked Harry, suddenly receiving a light cuff on the nape from James.

"Behave, son."

"Sorry, dad," the black haired boy winced a little, but grinned mischievously at the same time, which made Draco frown.  
What had he been scolded for? And what funny was there...?

"I did ask him, but he said that I'm too young to have a pet. That's why I wanted to catch one on my own. This way, it would be rightfully mine... right?"

James smirked, putting his hand onto the boy's slender shoulder and lowering onto his knee so that their eyes would be on the same level.

"Well, that's an understandable reason. But it was still very reckless of you. Your father is probably very worried now."

Draco sighed sadly, shaking his head and looking away. Suddenly he felt jealous — James Potter clearly cared about his son a lot, seeing as he wasn't leaving his side for a second here. Why didn't his own father care about him as much?

"No, I doubt that."

James frowned, and Harry's smile disappeared the next second, too.

"Why would you think that?"

The boy shrugged uncertainly, mumbling quietly without looking at either of them,

"Well, if he were worried, he would have found me by now. Sometimes I think he doesn't care at all."

There was a long, oppressive pause. The auror looked a bit shocked while his son just kept gazing at the blond boy thoughtfully as people around them kept passing by indifferently.

"I'm sure he simply hasn't managed to find you yet, kid," finally uttered James carefully. "Knockturn Alley is big; we were just lucky to stumble upon you on our way, really. If you don't mind tagging along, I'll make sure to take you home when we are done with our business here. It shouldn't take long."

Draco gave the man and his son a long searching gaze before finally nodding hesitantly. It wasn't like he had any other option anyway with the likes of that Xhul around.

James smirked, rustling his hair again, which made the boy wince in annoyance. His mother always told him to take a good care of his looks no matter what, and of course that included his always—so—perfect hair, too.

"Fine, then. Let's go. You guys stay close to me, we'll be done here in no time." They walked down the alley, and for the first minute or two all three of them remained silent. Harry was the first one to open his mouth, whispering quietly,

"Why did you really run away?"

Draco looked at him confusedly, baffled by the unexpected question. He had told them the truth, hadn't he? But after thinking for a few seconds, the blond child frowned, looking at the ground under his feet.

"I was bored. Father kept talking to that man for ages, and I just couldn't stay there any longer."

Harry smirked, nodding understandingly.

"I feel ya. Adults can be impossibly boring sometimes. Drags." He replied with another whisper, making young Malfoy shoot a short, cautious glance at James.

But either the auror didn't hear his son's words, or just preferred to ignore them which seemed unlikely as it would be very strange in Draco's opinion as it was worthy of some good punishment for sure. At least his own father would never let something like this just slip unnoticed, of that the boy was absolutely assured.

"By the way, what are you doing here? I mean, both of you." He decided to change the topic to a more neutral one, just in case.

The black haired boy smirked in anticipation.

"Getting my secret birthday present."

Draco frowned, feeling even more confused than before. These people were probably the strangest ones he'd ever met...

"A secret present? How can it be secret if you know about it?"

Harry put his finger to his lips, hissing even more quietly,

"It's secret to mum. Not to me."

"Oh..." The boy decided not to venture digging any deeper, turning his head away and once again looking at the road ahead of them. "Happy Birthday, then," he added, to which Harry smiled and nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks," he said simply, as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

Draco frowned. There was something odd about Harry Potter. He came from a very rich and old family, and he was the heir to his line, much like young Malfoy himself. But this boy seemed to be his complete opposite, and his relationship with his dad, James, who in turn seemed to be nothing like Lucius, was clearly a lot different from the relationship between him and his own father.  
Was that why he was told to stay away from Potters? Just because they were different? But they appeared to be nowhere close to the descriptions father always gave whenever this family was mentioned. They were kind and noble, seeing as they helped him without asking for anything in return. They were undeniably strong — after all, Harry had defeated the Dark Lord, and James... that creepy man named Xhul had looked to be afraid of him and evidently he respected the auror quite a lot.

They were also pretty funny. Or at least Harry definitely was — maybe it wasn't very polite of him to sneer at Draco's misfortune, but on the other hand, hadn't tried to mock or offend him in any way. Actually, The Boy Who Lived turned to be surprisingly friendly and easy to get along with. The fact that Potters didn't seem to care about manners all that much was very pleasant and refreshing, too. Sometimes it seemed to Draco that he had too much of all that in his life...

"Here we go, lads. After you," James made a welcoming gesture with his hand, and Harry jumped up the stairs, letting out a squeal of delight and rushing inside the small, inconspicuous store they had stopped nearby.

Giving the older Potter a short questioning gaze, Draco followed the boy, gasping as he passed through the short dark corridor, entering the unexpectedly vast hall full of various... things.

There were different swords and daggers. And then there were hundreds of books. There were also talismans, jewelry and a lot of sealed scrolls of parchment here and there.

But apparently none of those really interested young Potter. A pair of strange looking steel bracelets with some ancient runes engraved on them, protected by the charmed glass box — evidently they were the object of Harry's interest seeing as he didn't pay any attention at all to the other things in the room, stopping right next to the box and examining it with his eyes curiously.

"Ah, Jimmy! And young Harry, too! Welcome, welcome. I've been expecting the two of you," the brown haired man at the counter smiled warmly, shaking James' hand and then moving his gaze to Draco. "Oh? I never knew that you had another son, you slicker! When on earth—"

"Just shut up for a second, Selvik. He's not my son, his name is Draco Malfoy."

"Huh?" The man named Selvik narrowed his eyes at the blond boy, making him swallow heavily under the cold gaze. "Draco Malfoy, you say? What did he do for _you_ , of all people, to bother with him?"

"I didn't do anything—"

"I wasn't talking to you, brat, was I? So, Jim?" Draco shut his mouth despite the anger that filled him. Why was this man talking to him like he was some criminal or a lowlife...? Just who did he think he was?

James rolled his eyes, sighing in slight irritation.

"No need to be so harsh, man. He did nothing wrong except for getting lost here in Knockturn Alley."

The other man squinted at the boy, hemming suspiciously as he gave Draco a long, studying glare.

"Got lost, huh... well then, maybe, maybe. He's not his father, after all, so I guess I should try to be unbiased here. Anyway," he turned back to the auror, the smile returning to his face the same instant, "I can see that your son is well aware of the reason why you guys are here. I have to warn you, though; these are the strongest ones you could possibly find in England. The standard auror ones are inferior by far, you know. I ordered some special enchantments for them, so I gotta ask you just in case... are you sure you wanna use them?"

"Yeah," James nodded affirmatively, "Thank you very much. These should do just fine."

Selvik smirked understandingly.

"Does Lily even know about your... methods?"

The auror sneered skeptically, shaking his head.

"Of course she doesn't. I told you how overly careful she is in everything that concerns Harry, remember? But knowing that, as well as realizing that he needs training, we've come to the agreement. I'm to train him to use magic whereas she is to educate him. In other words, theory is her territory, practice is mine."

The vendor smirked in response, nodding approvingly.

"That's a good decision. And how does it work? Is everything alright?"

James shrugged carelessly, putting his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"So far, so good. Right, Harry?"

The boy nodded quickly, not looking away for a second from what was, as Draco presumed, his present.

"Yes, dad."

"I'm sure she's gonna beat some shit out of you once she finds out that you're putting restrainers on him at such young age, though," Selvik grinned slyly, and Draco frowned. What exactly were they talking about? And more importantly, why did this bad mannered man dislike his father so much? There had to be a good reason to it...

"Well, it's only to be used during our training sessions, really, so it should be safe. It's not like he has to always wear them, you know," James scratched his nape uncomfortably — apparently he didn't fancy the idea of this Lily, whoever she was, beating him up.

"Whatever, man. It's not like he'll be able to do anything while wearing these. I don't know what you're thinking, but then again, who am I to judge _you_ and The Boy Who Lived himself?" Harry finally snapped out of his thought at the mention of his famous nickname, turning his head to look at Selvik and giving the man a small, polite smile.

"But that's exactly what we need these for. When I wear restrainers, I can be sure that my accidental magic won't hurt anyone should it go wild during my exercises. That happens pretty often lately, so I can't train properly without them, you see. And all those I tried before, well... they don't work well enough anymore."

The man's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Huh? What do you mean they don't work anymore?"

Harry glanced at his dad before shrugging uncertainly, suddenly looking sheepish. The auror grinned pridefully, replying instead of his son,

"Let's just say that sometimes his mother's temper awakens in him, and no obstacle can withhold such tremendous power," both the adults chuckled, which made Harry blush as he decided to look away and pretend as if he didn't hear that, much to young Malfoy's amusement. It turned that The Boy Who Lived was not so perfect, after all. He had his own weak spots, just like Draco himself. It was certainly a pleasant discovery.

"I see. And with these on you, you can go all out without being afraid of inadvertently killing Jim or turning the floor under your feet into lava or doing some other dangerous shit... that's pretty shrewd, what can I say, if only a bit brutal given that you're only seven. As expected of Jimmy," Selvik smirked, clapping on the auror's shoulder. "Anyway, feel free to take your stuff. For free, of course — just don't mention my name at your office and we're good, buddy."

"As always," James nodded, coming close to Harry and opening the box with a flick of his wand... or his hand?  
Draco wasn't sure.

But instead of trying to figure it out, the boy stepped slowly towards the vendor, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath before blurting out,

"Sir, may I ask you a question?"

Selvik looked down at Draco with slight despise and nodded after a short pause,

"What is it, brat?"

Draco hesitated for a second — the man was big and clearly very strong physically, yet still the boy decided to gather all the courage he had, proceeding,

"What do you hate my father for?"

All the sounds in the room died off immediately. James looked at Draco ruefully, whereas Harry focused his gaze on Selvik who seemed to be taken by surprise with this question, although it was clear that the man was having a hard time controlling his anger.

"Why do I hate him, you ask? Well, that's not hard to answer, boy. Your daddy's friends murdered my wife and children eight years ago. It's a shame that he's not jailed as well yet, but I hope Jimmy will fix this in time. He knows his shit."

Draco's eyes widened in shock.

His father? Friends with murderers? Was this man talking about the accomplices of the Dark Lord? But if Lucius Malfoy was a murderer, then how come he was still free?

"You—you're lying...!"

Selvik laughed, shaking his head.

"Oh, dear lord, it's such a shame that you came here with Potters. I'd gladly put you out of your misery to prevent you from growing up into a monster like the one your beloved daddy is, brat." There was such intense hatred in his eyes that Draco couldn't quite decide if he was more scared or angered by the man's malign.

But somehow...

Draco bit his lip, feeling the unwanted tears coming up to his eyes yet suppressing them with everything he had, refusing to cry in front of Selvik.

Somehow it didn't seem unrealistic to him. His father was not a kind man by any means, of course. Sure, he treasured Draco and his poor mother to an extent... well, in his own way, but that was it. Unlike Narcissa who loved her son to no end and always gave him whatever he wanted, Lucius, on the other hand, had barely shown any signs of love so far as Draco could remember, and until now, the boy had never really wondered why it was this way, considering that natural.

However, seeing the Potters today, as well as comprehending Selvik's words... he hadn't come to any conclusions and neither had a new picture of the world formed in his head just yet, but everything that had happened today had planted the seed of doubt in his heart, making some new, disturbing questions rise up.

What if his father wasn't _always_ right?

What if he wasn't _that much_ better than other wizards?

What if he was, in fact, _evil..._?

All that was now overwhelming the boy's mind, and he lowered his head, crushed by various anxious thoughts.

"I guess that's enough. Harry, hand me the bracelets for now, I'll hide them until our next training. Selvik..." James paused, and judging by his troubled expression, he seemed to want to add something else, but apparently the black haired wizard decided not to go on with the conversation in the end. "So long. Draco, let's go. We gotta get out of this place as soon as possible. I'm beginning to feel depressed by this atmosphere." He came close to the blond boy, taking Draco's small hand into his and pulling him towards the exit, followed by Harry who also appeared to be pretty concerned with something now.

They walked out of the store, and none of them uttered a word for quite a while — it was hard to say exactly how long did the silence last this time, for Draco felt completely lost and exhausted after all the events of this day. Only when they were about to enter Diagon Alley, Harry finally said,

"Don't worry so much about what he told you."

The blond child shot The Boy Who Lived a grim glance before muttering quietly,

"But he said that my father is evil. How can I not worry about it?"

Harry shrugged carelessly, the optimistic smile never leaving his lips.

"Well, you could call me evil too. I have killed Voldemort, haven't I? And killing is a bad thing, and a crime."

Draco flinched at the mention of the forbidden name, shocked by Harry's bravery. Of course, when the boy thought about it, his new friend, if he could call him a friend, had the right to spell the Dark Lord's name considering that he was the one who had defeated him, yet still... it was impressive. It was something exemplary. Young Malfoy wished to become as courageous one day.

"But nobody hates you for that," he finally reasoned after some thought.

The black haired boy stopped smiling, looking away.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Still, he's your dad. Family is the most important thing out there, isn't it?"

Young Malfoy smiled weakly and nodded.

"I guess."

"Besides, there is no proof that what Selvik said about your dad is true. If things were this way—"

"—then Lucius would probably have been long imprisoned," finished James, looking at the blond child over his shoulder for a second before turning away and adding, "Listen, kid... I never knew that he had such a vendetta against Lucius. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken you inside his store, of course. Sorry about that. But Harry is right, and you should always remember that. Any accusations with no solid proof behind them are meaningless. And if your father is not in Azkaban yet, it means that he is innocent, end of the story. Don't let anyone confuse you, alright?"

Thinking over James' words for a few seconds, Draco smiled a bit more brightly, nodding.

"I get it. Thank you, Mr. Potter!"

The auror winked at him, but then he stopped for a second, waving his hand at someone.

"Oi! Lily! Over here!"

Draco squinted under the scorching rays of sun, trying to discern the face of the woman that was walking quickly toward them, looking a bit worried.

She was beautiful, he could tell that much. Being in her mid twenties, she looked nothing like the blond boy's mother — aside from being younger, she had long, straight fiery red hair that almost reached her waist, and her eyes were bright green, much like Harry's. She was also wearing the uniform similar to that of James, although hers was a bit different — probably the version designed for women, as the boy assumed.

This Lily was an auror, too. She was probably Harry's mother, then.

A mudblood...

The woman smiled happily as she approached them, kissing her husband quickly before bowing down to take a close look at Harry who paled a little, but smiled as well nonetheless.

"Hey, mum."

She sighed, patting his cheek lightly.

"Didn't I tell you to dress properly today, Harry... like father, like son," she muttered, fixing the collar of Harry's black short sleeved shirt and making an attempt to make his messy hair look decent, but stopping shortly as she realized that it was pointless.

Her actions and words surprised Draco quite a lot, although he didn't show any sign of his true emotions, trying to remain calm and expressionless. According to his father's words, mudbloods never really cared about appearances, clothes or etiquette. Was that also a lie?

The gaze of her emerald green eyes moved to him then, making the boy stop breathing for a second as she frowned, looking at him with a mixture of emotions he would classify as something between concern and displease.

"Oh, dear lord, where did you get that?" Asked the woman, pulling her wand out of nowhere and pointing it at his face, making the boy gasp in fear.

No, father hadn't been lying about mudbloods! She was going to curse him, without a doubt...!

But then he felt the strange wave of warmth on his cheek. Touching it reflexively, he remembered that this was the spot where that old man Xhul had scratched him. He had already forgotten about that...  
Draco had learned long ago how to ignore pain as he had gotten punished pretty often, and considering that he had been having far more disturbing things on his mind since that moment half an hour ago, the boy had totally forgotten about this scratch that was... gone now.

She had healed him! She didn't really intend to hurt him!

Lily smiled warmly, putting the wand back into the sleeve of her jacket and patting his cheek as well.

"And who are you, young man? Harry's new friend? Was that the present you have prepared for his birthday, Jim? To allow him to make some new friends?"

Her husband smirked, exchanging understanding glances with Harry before winking at Draco.

"Whereas it is good for him to improve his social skills a little, it has nothing to do with his present, honey. He's gonna get it later. But I think they are getting along nicely, right, guys?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes..." Draco's reply probably didn't sound as convincing as Harry's, but that was not something the boy found important at the moment, now that everything he knew about life was being slowly turned upside down. And although he would later find it strange, and he _certainly_ wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he actually liked Lily Potter, so he didn't want to lie to her, even though he knew that this lie of Harry and James' was harmless.

"What's your name then, mister?"

He coughed, bowing his head politely.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. It's a big pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Potter."

James made a funny face, pretending to look offended, which made Draco suppress the urge to giggle as the man drawled,

"Hey, you weren't so polite back when we met, kid! Is it all because of her beauty? I should've known!"

"Nah, dad, it's because even he can't take you serious when you're acting like a child," Harry smirked, and Draco was about to gasp again, expecting James to put his son in his place for such insolence, but instead, James simply laughed, and so did Lily after a short, barely notable suspicious glance directed at her son's newfound friend.

They were totally the weirdest family the blond boy had met so far, but surprisingly enough, it was in a good way. Actually, he couldn't remember the time when he had felt so free, without being afraid of getting punished for any step he took.

"It's nice to meet you too, Draco. I hope you and Harry will become great friends. Anyway, Jim, where are his parents?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out until we met ya. He'd gotten lost not so far away from here before we stumbled upon him, and I gotta send him back to his home as soon as possible. I guess we should go to the Leaky Cauldron, the fireplace there must be connected with Malfoy manor. Is that right, kid?"

Draco shrugged timidly.

"I'm not sure, sir. I've never been to that place."

Lily's eyebrow cocked in surprise with a note of suspicion again, but she didn't say anything on the matter, smiling the next second instead.

"We should get going, then. We have to do a lot of preparations for tonight. Did you guys know that Sirius is coming back from France together with, uh... somebody?"

"Really?" James and Harry drawled simultaneously, grinning happily.

"I bet this 'somebody' won't last a month, just like all of his previous 'somebodies'," said James.

"Indeed. He is such a bounder," Harry hemmed.

"Son! Don't be so rude! Sirius is... well—"

"Yeah, Sirius is Sirius," the Boy Who Lived muttered, rolling his eyes which made James sneer, and even Lily's mask of seriousness gave a crack as she chuckled, shaking her head.

"You are so lucky that this is your birthday today, otherwise I'd call no sweets for you until next week for sure."

"Oh yeah, lucky me." This time it was Lily's turn to roll her eyes at her son's response, shaking her head at his smug grin.

Draco watched the scene with his eyes open wide, although as strange as it seemed, he was getting used to their behavior. And it felt shockingly good. He certainly would like to spend some more time with them... eventually. If he would get a chance to.

They entered the homely pub that the Leaky Cauldron turned to be, walking past a few wooden tables strictly toward the fireplace. There were not a lot of people at this time— only two men were sitting quietly at the bar, drinking something from iron piles from time to time, and there was also a beautiful woman with two little girls, brunette and blonde, sitting at the table in the corner of the hall and not paying any attention to the newcomers.

"Welcome, James, Lily. How may I serve you?" asked the gray haired man, the owner of this place.

"Hey there, Tom," said James and Harry discordantly.

"Greetings, Tom. I suppose we could stop here for the lunch, what do you guys think? Draco, are you hungry?" asked Lily, but before he could reply, the fireplace lit up with green flames, and Lucius Malfoy himself stepped into the room, looking...

Absolutely infuriated.

"Potter. Care to explain why is my son here with your bunch?" He stared at James expectantly, nearly radiating hatred for the auror.

The red haired witch was about to retort, but James stopped her with a light motion of his hand.

"Chill, Lucius. I found him in Knockturn Alley, scared to death by someone named Xhul. He was trying to drag your son somewhere by force, so I decided to intervene. But I'm sure you don't know anyone named Xhul, do you? Anyway, feel free to take him home. And please, don't thank me, it's my job to keep everyone safe from the likes of... him," the auror smiled politely, pushing Draco lightly in the back.

The boy strode toward his father reluctantly. He knew what this expression of his meant. It was going to be painful... very painful.

He wasn't wrong in his assumption. As soon as he came close to Lucius, he got knocked down by the dark, lacquered cane of his father, yelping and gripping his apparently broken nose.

"That the heck are you doing, you idiot!" Lily rushed towards the boy, but stopped a few yards away as Lucius pointed his wand at her chest.

"Get. Away. From. My. Son!"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger and frustration, meeting tear-filled gray eyes of Draco who looked away the next second, trying desperately not to utter a sound.

"Get up now. We're leaving." With a flick of his father's wand, the injured boy felt as the strong wave of magic made him stand up, limping towards the fireplace. " _Episkey,_ " with another flick, Draco felt his nose getting healed the next second, but it was hardly relieving — he knew that the main part of his punishment awaited him at home.

But then something inexplicable happened. Just as he was about to enter the fireplace, a heavy cauldron fell down from the rack above right onto Lucius' head, making the man turn around and hiss in pain and anger.

"Who did this?" he roared, looking at the Potters. But none of them had their wands drawn out... And the men at the bar, as well as the women at the table near the window didn't seem to pay any attention to them at all. Only one of the girls that was sitting next to her, the blonde, was staring at Harry with her mouth open, as if he...

Draco's eyes widened in realization.

Harry had done this! He had made that cauldron fall...!

The satisfied grin on young Potter's face only confirmed his assumption. And although Draco had every right to be mad at him considering that the boy had formally attacked a member of his family, he... smiled.

No matter what was the true intention behind what Harry had done, he'd avenged his broken nose. For the first time in Draco's life, someone stood up for him. Not just nursed him after he got hurt like his mother always did, but actually tried to avenge him.

That was the moment when the boy realized something very important. No matter what his father said, he was certainly wrong in one thing — the Potters were good people.

To his surprise, he then felt something pricking the skin of his hip near the left pocket of his black pants. Slowly putting his hand into it while Lucius still weren't looking at him, Draco took out something shiny, staring at the little thing. Taking a closer look, he realized that it was a small piece of a broken mirror. But why on earth did he have it...?

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mr. Malfoy! I must have been too tired yesterday, so I put it on the very edge... oh, my... can I do something for you to compensate this misfortune?" pleaded Tom, to which Lucius just snorted, turning around and pushing Draco deeper into the fireplace.

"Malfoy Manor!"

Before the green flames absorbed them, Draco noticed as Harry winked at him before taking a similar shard out of his own pocket and showing it to him in the last moment. Young Malfoy had no idea how important this piece of junk would become to him very soon...

As soon as they disappeared, Lily hugged James and closed her eyes, leaning against his shoulder and putting her chin onto it, uttering quietly,

"Sometimes I truly hate all these pureblood traditions. Does he really have to be so cruel? It's his son, for God's sake..."

James sighed sadly as he hugged her waist with one hand and pulled Harry closer to them with another, still gazing at the empty fireplace.

"I know, honey, I know. But there is nothing we can do for now aside from not following these garbage traditions ourselves, I'm afraid."

After a few seconds of silence, Lily flinched suddenly as she remembered something important, muttering into her husband's ear the next second,

"By the way, sweetheart. Care to explain what the two of you were doing in Knockturn Alley?"

The auror paled, and his wife grinned victoriously, making Harry roll his eyes.

"Well, thank you, dad. We're screwed again."


	3. The First Day of Their Yough

**Chapter 3. The First Day of Their Youth**

"Master Draco! Master Draco needs to wake up now!"

Young Malfoy slowly opened his eyes, staring at the dark ceiling of his bedroom for a few seconds before turning his head to the left and looking at their house elf.  
The boy had had a sleepless night which wasn't any surprising considering what day it was today. The anticipation had been making him feel more and more nervous throughout the last few weeks and now the stress was reaching its peak as he was having a hard time even simply clenching his cold shaking fists.

"What is it, Dobby?" he mumbled and his gaze slid to the clock on the wall. "It's still too early to get up."

"Oh, that's right, Master! But it's Master's mirror! Master's friend is—"

"Shut up now, I get it. Give it to me."

Dobby smiled happily and snapped his fingers — a white oval shaped crystal that was vibrating demandingly fell onto the boy's blanket, which made young Malfoy smirk as well as he gripped it hastily.

"Harry?" He looked at the middle of the crystal where the small shard of the two-way mirror rested, protected by the conjured transparent cell.

"Hey there, mate. How's it going?"

Draco shrugged trying to look as impassive as possible as he observed his one and only friend's cheerful face.

"Decent, I suppose. Some idiot has just awakened me far earlier than necessary, but other than that I'm good."

"Well, I just thought it would be fair for me to do that since Gwen did the same to me half an hour earlier. So," he drawled narrowing his eyes teasingly, "Have you decided yet?"

The blond boy groaned and rolled his eyes irritatedly.

"No, I haven't. Didn't I tell you not to ask me again?"

"Oh, come on, don't be such a sissy! You might get sorted into Hufflepuff at this rate, you know."

"Yeah, right. Not happening."

"Oh, but it will happen for sure! Look at you, still can't even decide where you wanna go! It's so easy, really. To join all the cool guys like myself or to rot with weak ass idiots who are always all talk and nothing else..."

Young Malfoy gave his friend a deadpan look.

"If the choice is about joining the guys who are as _cool_ as you are, then I suppose I should really look for another option."

Harry laughed loudly, making Draco glance at the door to his room cautiously and cover the crystal with his palm suppressing the sound just in case.

"Please. You're just afraid to be outmatched by us. I understand it, though. It's always easier to be the best among the worst than to be the worst among the best." He snickered, but frowned a bit the next second as he noticed that Draco lowered his eyes as his face darkened.

"It's not really about that, and you know it," he muttered, biting his lip thoughtfully.

They've been discussing the pros and cons of the houses of Hogwarts for months by now, and it was a very touchy topic to him, although the heir to Malfoys rarely showed his concerns in any way.

As much as he would like to get sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, either of which was most likely where Harry would end up tonight, he knew that it would inevitably lead to some dramatic consequences. Generations of Malfoys had been in Slytherin, it was an unspoken rule in their family, something absolutely not even debatable. Breaking it would most definitely turn his father against him at the very least, probably ultimately leading Draco to getting banished from his home and family. And whereas he probably wouldn't care about his father's opinion alone all that much, the boy certainly didn't want to break the ties with his beloved mother, not to mention all the money and other heritage he would lose by going this way.

"Yeah, I know," uttered Harry quietly, smiling reassuringly at his blond friend. "Don't worry. We'll come up with an idea, one way or another. That's what we always do, isn't it?"

Draco let out a tiny smile as well, feeling a bit relieved. As goofy and immature as James Potter's eldest child was sometimes, The Boy Who Lived certainly had that ability to make anyone's mood get better regardless of the situation.

"Being rivals is kind of cool, too, don't you think so?" said Draco carefully, scratching his chin. "Imagine all the things we could arrange, pretending to be enemies and manipulating everyone from our houses—"

"Giving up already? I see, I see," Draco's face reddened immediately and he gripped the crystal tighter.

"Screw you, Potter!"

"Careful. If you wanna become rivals, I'll make sure to kick your sorry arse as often as possible. And Snape won't save ya, for I have someone to back me up, too. Speaking of which, getting sorted into Gryffindor would grant you her protection as well."

"And Snape would make me his primary target in this case. No, thanks. Besides, damn, Harry! Abusing your family bonds like that? How dishonorable of you! I don't wanna be associated with such a scoundrel."

Harry's eyes narrowed mockingly.

"Now then, look who's talking, mister My Daddy Will Buy Me a Golden Throne In Slytherin If Only I Ask Him To."

" _If_ , Potter. _If_ is the key word here. There is no way in hell I'm doing that. Besides, I don't see how is it worse than having a teacher to always back you up."

It was the black haired boy's turn to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, right. As if you don't know that mum will always be the first to punish me no matter what I do."

They kept staring at each other's face willfully for a few seconds before Draco finally sighed.

"Fine, touche. But you still haven't proven your point."

"As if I need to prove anything to a sissy like you."

Before he could retort that, Draco flinched as he heard the familiar quiet noise coming from the stairs. Giving a short glance to the door again, he whispered,

"Mother is coming. I have to go."

"Fine. See ya in the train."

"Yeah. See you."

Draco handed the crystal to Dobby who hid it with another snap of his tiny fingers and disappeared just a few seconds before the door opened and the beautiful blonde woman in her thirties entered the room.

"Draco, dear. I can see that you are already awake. Are you feeling well?" She looked at his unusually pale face anxiously, coming close to the boy and touching his forehead with her palm. "Too nervous, aren't you? Have you even slept this night?"

"Yes, mother, I have. Thank you. I'm feeling just fine, but you are correct, I am feeling quite nervous."

Narcissa sighed, caressing his cheek lightly.

"That's a relief. But not to worry, son, feeling nervous is perfectly fine for such a fateful day. Don't be embarrassed by your feelings."

He looked away, feeling embarrassed.

"I suppose you are correct... but I can't allow father to see me like that. He would get very angry." He lowered his head, making his mother purse her lips and sigh again, with sadness this time.

"Please, don't think that your father doesn't care about your feelings, Draco. He only wants the best for you, it's just that he wasn't taught to show his concerns to anyone."

"Right... and apparently nobody cares about what _I_ want," her son mumbled, making Narcissa frown a little and touch his chin gently, making the boy meet her vigorous gaze.

"That is nonsense. Like a true Malfoy, you are to decide your own fate, son. Do not allow anyone or anything to take the freedom of choice from you. Give me a promise."

The boy nearly gasped, staring into his mother's deep grey eyes.

She _knew_ it. She knew everything about his inner fight! About all of his concerns and doubts! Was she meaning that...?

"I—I promise... Mum," he whispered the last word, making a rare warm smile appear on the woman's pale, slightly tired face.

"Very well. There is nothing for me to worry about, then. I believe that your heart will tell you what to decide. And your father... let me handle this problem. Don't worry about him." She pecked his cheek with her lips, making the boy's heart warm up as he smiled brightly. "Get up now, we should not be late today. Breakfast is already on the table."

"Right!"

* * *

"Harry! Stop this right now!"

"But she's the one who started it, mum!"

"I don't care! I told _you_ to stop, didn't I?

"But that's unfair—!"

"I said _now_! Ten points from Gryffindor!"

"Oi! I haven't even been sorted yet!" He sighed in defeat, feeling the familiar chill going down his spine when his mother gave him _that_ look that never promised anything good.

He lowered his hand, and the hazel eyed girl whom he had been levitating with his magic until now smacked onto the floor on her butt right next to him and gasped, rather wanting to make the boy feel bad than because of any real pain.

"Oww! That hurts!" she groaned, to which Harry grinned shamelessly as his new wand raised up from the floor and flew right into his hand the instant he looked at the magical tool.

"Too bad. You will know better than stealing my stuff next time."

The girl pursed her lips resentfully, crossing her tiny arms on her chest and frowning.

"I won't see you again until next summer. You won't even remember about it by that time, so I'll do it again for sure!"

"Nope. First, you'll see me on Christmas. Second, I never forget anything. And third, you should get up from the floor and eat. These pancakes are really delicious."

The girl stuck up her tongue at her brother, getting up and coming to the second chair.

"Food at Hogwarts is probably much more delicious anyway," she muttered, taking her fork reluctantly while Lily turned her head from the sink to give her daughter a scolding glance.

"Harry is feeling very nervous right now, Gwendolen, and he's probably not all that pleased to leave his home either. Like you said it yourself, you won't see him again for a while, so please, don't be this annoying to him."

"Yeah, Gwen. Don't be this annoying to me, or else I'll send you flying again, this time until I get on the train."

"No, you won't!" cried the girl.

"Well, if that's what you wanna believe."

"Mum...!"

"Dear lord... Stop it already, please," the red haired woman pleaded, massaging her temple and sitting down as well. Before she could add anything else, James entered the room, dressed in his auror uniform, yawning and stretching his exhausted limbs as came close to the table with dishes.

"Mornin'," he muttered, sitting down next to his wife and taking a cup of coffee.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, dad. Had a tough night?" asked Harry looking at his father curiously.

"Oh, you have no idea."

"Have you caught some dangerous criminals?" gasped Gwen with her eyes widened in awe, which made James chuckle.

"Nah. We spent some wonderful time digging through the archive and doing a shit ton of boring paperwork."

"James, language!" Lily frowned at her husband, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Sorry, sorry. But it's true, honey. Sometimes I wish I got an opportunity to work at Hogwarts as well."

Lily giggled.

"You'd make an awful teacher, you know. Not to mention that the only reason why I agreed to this job three years ago was that this way I can spend more time with our children."

"You make it sound as if I don't wanna spend more time with them, too!" exclaimed the man pretending to be indignant.

"Oh, that's not what I mean," the woman smiled, reaching out to kiss the corner of his mouth. "It's just that I miss the times when we worked together."

"Well, what you do is very important, too," said James making Lily sigh quietly as she took a sip of tea.

"Nothing is more important than catching criminals like Voldemort, though," reasoned Harry taking another bit of his snack.

Lily frowned, but didn't reply to his statement. Instead, James hemmed,

"Well, that's debatable. Don't you think that teaching the future aurors is even more important than what said aurors do in general? Without proper education, the institution of aurors would collapse in no time. We don't want unskilled amateurs protecting us, do we?" James smirked, making his son frown and lower his eyes, looking a little ashamed.

"I guess you're right." Lily's features softened as she noticed Gwen's troubled gaze directed at her brother — clearly the girl didn't like seeing him being so dull. It was too unlike the always optimistic and cheerful boy.

"Hey, big brother..." Harry looked at the girl questioningly without a hint of his usual smile. She didn't know why what their father had said bothered the boy that much, but she certainly wanted him to feel better, especially knowing that their mother was right and he certainly would miss them a lot as well in just a few hours. "Maybe—if you want—you can take Smokey with you so that you don't feel lonely there, at school."

The Boy Who Lived smirked at his sister.

"Your cat hates me, Gwen. You know it."

She nodded, looking overly serious.

"Yes, but it's only because you used your magic on her too many times. If you tried, you could become friends with her."

He shook his head while their parents kept discussing something uninteresting to their children quietly.

"Nah. I'd rather let it stay with you so that you have someone to annoy while I'm absent."

The girl smiled and kicked his knee under the table, which made the boy wince and chuckle at the same time.

"Dummy! I'll be missing you. I already am."

Feeling a little embarrassed for some reason he didn't understand himself yet, the boy looked away again, sipping the cold pumpkin juice.

"Yea, me too. Don't worry, though. You'll go to Hogwarts as well pretty soon."

The girl frowned in disbelief.

"You're kidding, right? That's five years of waiting!"

"Five years is not that much, sweetie," said Lily turning to her daughter and moving a long strand of straight black hair from her face. "Trust me, that day will come a lot faster than it seems right now. I still remember how—"

"Actually, the nostalgic talk is all cool and nice, but we're about to be late," James interrupted the woman, making her look at him with deprecation and concern at the same time. "The portal will be activated in two minutes. Harry, are you sure that you're prepared? Haven't forgotten anything, have you?"

"Of course, dad. I'm more than ready to go."

"Very well then. Go get your trunk, we gotta make haste."

"Can I go, too?" whimpered Gwen, to which James nodded.

"Sure, darling. That would be an interesting experience for you. Lily, put the glue charms on her just to make sure she doesn't get lost in time and space while we travel."

"I know right?" his wife stood up from the table, rushing towards the wardrobe to get her light azure coloured summer mantle.

A few minutes later the four of them already appeared at Platform 9¾ right next to the large red steam engine named Hogwarts Express. It was 10:53 o'clock, and although many parents have already left the station, the Potters still had plenty of time to say their goodbyes to each other. And not just Potters...

"Sirius! Rem!" Harry gasped happily when the two of his father's best friends apparated next to them, grinning happily at The Boy Who Lived. "You've come!"

"Of course, pup. You didn't think we'd miss this glorious day, did you?" Sirius bowed down to hug the boy tightly, winking at James and Lily before rustling Gwen's hair, which made the girl who was still under the impression from the portal travel giggle. "What's up with your faces, brats? Cheer up! It's supposed to be a celebration!"

"Oh, you could celebrate anything, Sirius. Even your own funeral," Lily rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile.

"Damn right! That's because I'm sill able to enjoy my life to the fullest, my dear Lily! No matter how shitty the last night was, right, Prongs?"

"Yeah..." The man yawned, squeezing out a weak smile. "Moony, have you taken care of those scrolls?"

"You don't need to ask, really. Of course I have. You are such a tyrant boss, I must say," said Remus, to which Sirius nodded making James smile apologetically.

"Well, sorry, guys. We needed to finish the job before our vacation. Told ya."

"Blah blah blah. Harry, promise me not to grow up into such a drag, alright?" Sirius winked at the boy, making the boy smirk as his sister giggled again.

"That would be pretty hard given that mum is going to be one my teachers at Hogwarts."

Lily's green eyes narrowed at her son in pretentious anger.

"I will remember that, young man. Hopefully you are prepared for your first lesson tomorrow."

"What? Tomorrow? That soon? And here I hoped I would get at least a short break!" Everyone's collective snicker was interrupted by the loud sound coming from the train, marking that it was only one minute left until the departure. Most people have already left the platform, reminding them that they should hurry up.

"Anyway, Harry, you should go now," said James hugging his son. "Remember everything we've been training and don't ever use it unless there is an absolute necessity. I'm counting on your conscientiousness."

"Sure, dad. Don't worry about it." The boy smiled, wincing slightly when Lily kissed his cheek and hugged him as well. "Mum! Not with everyone watching, alright? Besides, it's not like I won't see you in a few hours." She smirked, trying to adjust his messy black hair much to the boy's displease — both of them knew that it was absolutely futile anyway, so the only possible purpose behind her action could be teasing him.

"Find yourself some good friends, pup, and make sure to make the walls of Hogwarts shake once again! They should remember us the Marauders!"

"Be careful, Harry. Don't do anything silly or reckless," said Remus smiling at the boy who nodded quickly to both the men, turning around to face the train. Just as he made a step toward it, he felt the two small arms hug his waist from behind, making the young wizard stop and turn his head to the side to see his sister sobbing quietly.

"Write me a letter, will ya?"

He smiled, nodding again.

"As soon as possible. Don't cry. We'll meet again soon." She let him go slowly, stepping aside and brushing her tears away. The boy stormed forward, jumping into the train that was already starting to move out and pulled the trunk inside, waving at his family one last time.

The door to the wagon closed and the boy sighed with relief, taking the white crystal out of his pocket and sending a weak wave of magic into it.

"Hey, Malfoy. Where are you?" He could hear the echo of his own voice not too far to the left — two or three compartments away, not more.

There was a pause before he head a quiet hissing,

"Damn you, Potter... what the hell have you done, I'm—"

"No matter, I can hear ya. Just a second," he strode to the end of the wagon, opening the closed door and staring at the three persons inside.

"Oh, hey guys. Mind if I join you?" Before they could reply, he entered the compartment, closing the door behind his back and putting his trunk away. "What's up, Malfoy?" He gave the blond boy whom he was seeing in person for the first time in four years a questioning look.

Draco was paler than usual and appeared to be feeling very uncomfortable. It was obvious why — clearly the other two were pure-bloods he knew, most likely Slytherin material.  
Exactly what Harry was looking forward to meet.

"I—well—"

"Who the hell are you? We didn't allow you to join us," the weedy blue eyed brunet boy barked, looking at the newcomer with uncovered arrogance and despise.

"Now that's rude. So full of yourself, aren't you? Well, no matter. Blimey, Malfoy, you didn't tell me that you're friends with some unmannered... half-blood, I presume?" He smiled politely and his gaze moved to the blonde girl who was looking at him with a blank face. "That's fine by me, though. I find all the pure-blood traditional teachings rather boring and old fashioned anyway. What are your names, by the way?"

They didn't respond, staring at him silently. The girl still had the indifferent expression whereas the boy who was sitting next to her had a mixture of feelings written on his face.

"I am Nott. Theodore Nott. And this is Daphne Greengrass, my future wife."

Harry's brow cocked skeptically.

"Your future wife? Yikes! Aren't you guys rushing things just a little bit?"

"It doesn't concern you," replied Nott, looking at the green eyed boy triumphantly.

Harry glanced at Draco who looked very nervous now. Wiping the drops of sweat off his forehead, the blond boy shrugged and rolled his eyes negligently, as if trying to say 'it's none of our business'.

"Well, if you say so. Not like I'm really interested anyway. Can't she speak for herself, though?"

"Her family is poor and dying out. They barely had any money to pay for their debts lately. But my father was kind enough to... Solve all their problems, so to say..." Harry ignored the pompous speech of the boy, looking at the girl thoughtfully instead — she still didn't react to, in Harry's opinion, the pretty offensive words, keeping studying him mutely with her bright blue eyes instead.

"You haven't introduced yourself, though. But seeing how cocky you are, I suppose you come from a very influential family, don't you?" asked Theodore, making The Boy Who Lived turn his head and give him a slightly baffled gaze.

"Oh, that... Yeah, I guess you could say so. My name's Harry. Harry Potter. Pleased to meet both of you."

Nott's eyes widened in shock, but young Potter didn't pay any attention to him — such reaction was very common whenever he met someone new. After all, he was pretty famous among wizards of Great Britain.

But what drew his attention was the weird reaction of Daphne. For a second he was beginning to assume that she was being under Imperius curse or something similar — she didn't react to basically anything that was said around her, even to his name. But when he looked closer...

Her lips curled into the tiniest of smiles at his introduction, and for a brief moment her eyes appeared to be much more alive than before.

But then it was all gone, and she turned away, focusing her attention on the fields behind the window.

Making a mental note to ask Draco about this strange girl later, Harry turned to Nott again.

"Something wrong?" asked The Boy Who Lived making Theodore close his mouth and shake his head, trying to calm down as the notable excitement overwhelmed him.

"I should've known! I've seen your father a few times and you look exactly like him! Woah!"

"Not exactly. I got my eyes from my mom."

"Oh, right," Nott winced as if he had just swallowed something very sour. "That mud—I mean, muggle-born. I forgot about her existence. You should've done the same thing, actually—"

Harry flinched as Draco took his wand out of his pocket all of sudden, pointing its tip at Theodore's face.

"Take that back."

The green eyed wizard turned his head to give his friend a long studying gaze, shocked by his outrageous reaction.

It was strange to say the least, seeing him behaving like this. Of course, knowing the temper of his parents, something like that could be expected from Harry himself, but he had been trained to control his emotions ever since the very young age. That's why a trivial taunt like this could hardly work on him.

But Malfoy... Why would he want to defend Lily Potter? He had only seen her once in his life. Surely that wasn't enough to be the reason to it...?

"Take what back? What's wrong with you, Malfoy?" Nott tried to look calm and cool, but it didn't miss Harry's eye that his face paled a bit when Draco drew his weapon out.

"I said take it back, Nott. You better do it right now, or else I will wipe the floor with your ugly face."

Daphne frowned, looking at the slightly shaking wand in Draco's hand, and then she moved her gaze to her friend, waiting for his retort.

"Let's not make a show here, Malfoy. I get it, you're friends with Potter, and I agree that what I said was misplaced. I'm sorry. It's not a reason to flick your wand around, you could gouge someone's eye at this rate. Look at your friend," he gave Harry a venomous grin, looking into the impassive green eyes. "He's not trying to show off, behaving like a true pure-blood is supposed to. And he's not trying to scare me with his nonexistent skills either. You should know your place as well."

Draco's face reddened, and he flicked the wand, opening his mouth to cast some spell, but then something strange happened — the wand fell out of his hand, dropping onto the floor of the compartment and rolling toward the window.

Theodore sneered while Daphne frowned again, narrowing her eyes at Harry and peering at him searchingly, appearing slightly puzzled.

"Look at you, what a joke. Can't even hold your wand properly. Some pure-blood wizard you are, huh," Nott laughed again, making Draco clench his fists in anger.

"Relax, Malfoy. Let this clown amuse us a bit longer. There is nothing better to do while we're on the way to Hogwarts anyway."

Draco squinted hatefully at the laughing boy before he sat down slowly, picking his wand from the floor and taking it away.

"I don't find clowns any amusing, especially when all they do is making us pure-bloods look bad," he muttered contemptuously, snorting and looking away.

"I can see that you're pretty confident, Potter. Why not try and show anything better than Malfoy's pathetic performance then? I am waiting."

Harry shrugged, grinning joyfully.

"Why would I bother? You are all talk, Nott, just like the scum you call your parents. I destroyed their master when I was infant. Dealing with the likes of them, and all the more so _you_ , is nothing to me."

The boy gasped in fear in anger at the same time, mumbling,

"I—you—"

"Please, Theo, stop. You shouldn't meddle with him, it's dangerous," the girl finally opened her mouth, though it was but a whisper, not moving her eyes away from Harry.

"What did you say?" the enraged boy yelped, standing up and taking his wand out. Draco raised his own wand again while Harry himself still didn't make a move, moving his gaze from Daphne back to Nott.

"You heard the lady. I'd rather get the hell outta here if I were you. Just a friendly advise, you know." He smiled politely, enjoying the indescribable expression of Theodore's face.

"We'll meet again, Potter. And you will pay for your insolence." He took his trunk and stormed out of the compartment as soon as he could.

Draco lowered his wand slowly, giving a long studying look to Daphne who clearly didn't intend to hurry up to follow her friend.

"Now what was that?" asked Harry, dropping the mask of politeness and indifference the second after Nott left. "Why did you tell him to stop? I was only beginning to have fun."

"Because I have seen what you are capable of, Mr. Potter." Her voice was unexpectedly sweet. Deceivingly so.

"Harry is fine. And what do you mean you've seen it? What exactly did you see?"

The girl didn't answer, moving toward the door, and when Harry was already sure that she decided to simply ignore his question, she stopped, giving him a short glance.

"I have seen you using your magic twice. I am aware of the fact that none of us can match you in terms of power and skill for now. Kindly avoid taunting Theodore from now on. I will do my best to make him avoid you as well." She bowed her head politely, stepping out of the compartment and closing the door, leaving the two friends alone.  
After a few seconds of silence, Harry finally let out a loud sigh of relief.

"Woah, Malfoy. I didn't know you were friends with an idiot and a weirdo. You're full of surprises, you know."

"They are not my friends," the blond boy snorted, hiding his wand in a pocket of his pants. "They just happened to follow me into this compartment. Nott most likely wanted to make some profitable connections in advance, that is something you could expect from a slug like him."

Harry smirked, leaning backwards and closing his eyes.

"You're nearly sounding like a Gryffindor now. What about that girl, though? What's with that 'future wife' bravado?"

Draco shrugged, looking unsure.

"No idea. But if it's a joke, it's a very weird one, don't you think so? Why would we even care about their love life, or anything related to them for that matter?"

Harry thought for a few seconds before replying,

"You're right, there is no reason for them to lie in this case aside from Nott trying to look cool, but that hardly sounds cool, to be honest. If anything, I'd feel pretty damn depressed if I already had a 'future wife' at my age."

"Yeah, same here."

The remained silent for a good minute. The impressions over the newly met peers were already gone, and the awkwardness of the moment hit them like a furious giant.

Although both Harry and Draco were excited to finally meet again, neither of them had imagined their meeting to be this eventful and weird.

"Anyway... have you decided yet?"

Draco groaned in frustration, grabbing his head and turning away to look out the window while Harry chortled, amused by the fact that he had managed to get on his friend's nerves again.

They spent the rest of the way to the school discussing what happened before, Nott and Daphne, their families, the future subjects and the houses, of course. But no matter how hard Harry pushed, the blond didn't spill a word regarding his own preference here.

Truth to be told, Draco wasn't even sure why Harry presumed that it was up to them to choose their future house. And even if that was the case, he certainly didn't want to look like a coward in his friend's eyes, but at this point, he really had no idea what to decide, provided that he would actually get to choose, of course.

Absorbed by the talk, the two boys didn't notice how they reached Hogsmeade. Following the half giant named Hagrid along with a bunch of their peers, they crossed the Great Lake and entered the ancient castle, meeting a tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes. She had a very stern face which, along with her looks, made Harry remember all the tales of his dad and the Maradeurs, so the boy figured out who she was nearly instantly.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the half giant.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big that it was probably possible to fit the whole house of Potters inside of it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches similar to the ones at Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school already was here—but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would have done under different circumstances, peering around nervously. Harry noticed that Nott and Daphne stood as far from him and Draco as possible, which made the boy grin and poke Draco in the ribs, nodding in their direction — the blond smirked as well as he noticed them, too.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, drawing their attention. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points." The two friends exchanged understanding glances before turning their eyes back to McGonagall.

"At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville Longbottom's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron Weasley's smudged nose.  
Harry preferred to ignore the advise, and so did Draco who always looked perfect anyway.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber, and Harry sighed.

"From what I know, she's a big shot here. We should avoid getting on her nerves, at least at first."

"Yeah, she looks pretty dangerous." Draco kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.  
Then something happened that made some first years in the room jump about a foot in the air—several people behind Draco's back screamed.

"What the—?" Everyone gasped in fear. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost—I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling happily around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away reluctantly through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Harry got into line behind Ron Weasley, with Draco behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. Harry had heard plenty of stories from his parents about this amazing place, but never had he imagined it to be so strange and splendid. It was lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting, including Lily Potter whom her son recognized as soon as he noticed her, of course.

Professor McGonagall led the first years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers sitting behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly in an attempt to ignore all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard some girl whisper,

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. Just like he had been told...

Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and also extremely dirty, but both Harry and Draco knew its history, so they would never complain unlike some muggle-bornes around them seemed to want. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. "So we've just got to try on the hat!" whispered Ron Weasley to Neville Longbottom who nodded nervously. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." Harry smilrked at that.  
Yes, taking on a troll would be far more interesting than this boring ceremony. And giving a short glance to Draco, The Boy Who Lived realized that his friend probably thought something among those lines as well, though for a different reason.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down.  
A moments pause, and...

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see the Weasley twin brothers catcalling, which made him grin.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin, as well as Tracey Davis.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide.

"Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Greengrass, Daphne!" Harry's gaze followed the blonde girl who put the hat on, and after a short pause it exclaimed, "SLYTHERIN!" The green eyed boy sighed with the slightest hint of sadness.  
Nothing unexpected here. Most Slytherins were always the same.

"Granger, Hermione!" The girl with bushy brown hair almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron Weasley groaned — apparently he had met this Hermione before, and he wasn't very fond of the idea of studying with her for some reason. There was no doubt that he would end up in Gryffindor as well, of course.

When Neville Longbottom was called, he nearly fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with him. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Then Draco's turn finally came. He let out a loud sigh and strode forward when his name was called, but unexpected to many, the hat didn't say a word for quite a while as the blond boy sat there with his eyes closed. Harry watched his friend's emotionless face worriedly. The seconds seemed to last impossibly long, and just when he heard the students in the hall beginning to whisper something to each other, Draco opened his eyes, looking vigorous and relaxed at the same time. Harry stopped breathing for a second.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Accompanied by rare claps of muggle-born students who were not familiar with his name, Malfoy took the had off and walked towards his house's table. The Weasley twins were the first ones to applaud loudly, and in just a few seconds every single Gryffindor joined them, including Harry who never had a doubt where he was going to be sorted anyway.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"…, "Parkinson"…, then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"…, then "Perks, Sally Anne"…, and then, at last—

"Potter, Harry!" As he stepped forward, whispers much louder than in Draco's case suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. "Potter, did she say?" "The Harry Potter?" The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat.

He waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. A lot of courage and confidence, I see. A shrewd mind as well. There's talent, ah my goodness, yes—and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?" _The answer should be obvious. I'm not leaving Malfoy alone among strangers, and neither am I letting my father's hopes down._

"Pretty dedicated, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? This kind of loyalty is worthy of Hufflepuff. On the other hand, you could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that—no? My, such unbridled fury... wizards like you become great no matter where I send them, that's how fate works, so I'll leave it up to you. And since you're so sure—welcome to GRYFFINDOR!"

He took off the hat and walked quickly toward his house's table. He was relieved by his little victory, so he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer so far. Percy Weasley the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down next to Draco and the girl named Hermione opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice cold water.

He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Lily, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up and winked. Harry grinned back.  
And in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once since he had seen the old wizard a dozen of times before. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Snape, too — he was sitting next to the nervous young man who was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban. To Harry's surprise, Snape who looked much better than how Sirius had always described him before didn't pay any attention to either him, Draco or Lily — as a matter of fact, he was watching stealthily this strangely looking man who evidently felt quite uncomfortable having such a gloomy company, even though he didn't notice Severus' glances.

Harry sighed, finally meeting his friend's emotionless gaze. He was proud of Draco. He hadn't been sure what he would chose in the end, but now he knew that he hadn't been wrong about this guy since the very beginning.

"Well... Here we go," said Harry, returning his gaze to the High Table.

"Yeah...," came the quiet response.

Both of them realized that this was only the beginning of a long journey.\

* * *

**Only 4 chapters of the prologue part left now. Please let me know what you think in the reviews, they are very useful to me!**


	4. A Mysterious Ally

**Chapter 4. A Mysterious Ally**

"Your turn. If I were you, I'd be very careful now, though." Ron Weasley smirked triumphantly, leaning against the back of the warm, comfy chair near the fireplace of the Gryffindor Common Room.

Draco, who was sitting in front of him, winced, staring at the cheap set of Wizard's Chess pieces and groaned in frustration,

"How can you be so good at this? I don't get it. I've been trained to play chess since my early childhood, and I never played bad, even though it's not like I enjoyed it all that much..."

"Perhaps that's the reason? Unlike you, Ron seems to love the game," mumbled Harry absently, lying on the coach next to the two of his fellow Gryffindors, lazily reading the accurately written lines of the letter from his father for the second time this day.

"No, the game is alright, it's just that I wasn't fond of the fact that I was _forced_ to play it," reasoned Draco, keeping looking at the pieces thoughtfully.

"Well, then maybe you're just not good enough."

Malfoy's cheeks reddened the same second as he blurted out,

"Oh, shut up, Potter! If you're so smart, then come and try it yourself!"

Harry smirked joyfully, putting the letter away and taking another one from the small table next to the couch.

"No, thanks. I'd rather stay out of the boring stuff if I can help it."

Ron frowned, raising his head to look at the black haired boy.

"Boring? What do you think isn't boring then?"

Harry shrugged, focusing on the text written on the ornamented piece of parchment.

"I dunno. Fighting? Anything that revolves around actual usage of magic? Quidditch goes well, too."

The blond and the red haired boy's heads snapped at him immediately, their eyes shining with similar excitement at once.

"Oh! Have you seen the latest reports, by the way? It seems like Falmouth Falcons can make it to the finals this year! For the first time in a century! Isn't that totally awesome?" babbled Ron.

"Bollocks, I'm gonna eat my hat if this happens," drawled Draco skeptically, "Puddlemere United will stomp them, you'll see. G3—G7!" he added, commanding the white bishop to attack Ron's rook.

"Oh well, prepare your hat then. I bet it's gonna be quite some show this October," the Weasley boy grinned, "Too bad we're not gonna get to watch it. And, well... E8— E1. Checkmate," Draco groaned again, gripping his temple and closing his eyes.

"Screw you and this stupid game, Weasley."

"Oh, so you admit that lost to me in a stupid game. I guess it doesn't make you very smart."

"What did you say—!"

"If the three of you don't make haste now, we're going to lose more points! Aren't you afraid of being late for our first Potions class?" Said the girl with bushy brown hair, who came close to the three of them unnoticed with her arms crossed on her chest. She glared at her classmates a bit angrily, evidently upset.

"Oh, thank you so much. I forgot that we had a walking alarm to babysit us," muttered Ron. Draco simply eyed the girl haughtily while Harry ignored her completely, still busy with the correspondence.

"It's not my fault that the three of you require babysitting. Dear lord, seriously! We already lost thirty points because of you boys! Thirty points in just three days! How can you be so irresponsible?"

"And how can you be so annoying and mean? Beside that, who on earth taught you to speak like some lowlife? Where are your education and manners?" asked Draco defiantly, making the girl blush and lower her hands, clenching her fists defensively.

"My parents taught me well!"

"Oh, really? That is not very notable. Perhaps the problem is not your parents but you, then?"

She opened her mouth, apparently willing to retort, but then the young witch just turned around and rushed toward the exit. Harry turned his head slightly to look after her, frowning as he heard the echo of a weep.

"Good riddance," muttered Ron, to which Draco nodded, turning to Harry.

"She's kind of right, though. We're nearly late."

"Yeah, yeah..." The green eyed boy got up from the couch, stretching his arms and handing the letter he had been reading for the last few minutes back to his friend. "Seems like you got away very easily, after all. I haven't managed to find any double bottom here no matter how deep I looked into it."

Malfoy nodded, taking the parchment.

"I know. That's totally not something I expected, but whatever. Not like I'm going to complain." The blond wizard smirked contentedly, lowering his head to look at the letter once more.

_Dear Draco,_

_We received a word from our allies at Hogwarts that you had been sorted to Gryffindor. Whereas it is most certainly not something we had expected to happen, I would like to let you know that we are satisfied and proud of you nevertheless. It has been more than three hundred years since the last time a Malfoy got sorted into this noble house, albeit you do remember it, of course, for I am sure that we taught you well enough, which brings me back to the reason why I am writing this letter beside the obvious reasons._  
_After we gave it some thought, me and your mother decided that what happened to you is all in all a good and promising occurrence. I have no doubt in the education we gave you, and along with this, the qualities of a Gryffindor shall make you a glorious heir to our family. We are looking forward to seeing your upcoming great deeds. Do not disappoint us, my son._

_Lucius Malfoy._

Draco's lips curled into a barely notable warm smile as his eyes moved to the bottom of the parchment to see the additional small message written by a different hand,

_P.S. Please, dear, try to prevent us from receiving too many letters from the Head of your House regarding your behavior. I am not certain that I would be able to calm your father down every time, especially considering who your friend is.  
I am incredibly proud of you, my boy, and I love you very much. Both of us do._

_Narcissa Malfoy._

He put the letter into the pocket of his robe, looking at his classmates then. It seemed that he was right about his mother, after all. She knew about their secret friendship with Harry. Draco wondered when and how had she found out, and more importantly, did his father know as well? Probably not, but still...

"So, let's go?" He asked, deciding not to think about it for now.

"Yeah. Being late sure isn't something we want this time," replied Harry, walking to the exit of the room, followed by the other two Gryffindors. The rest of their peers had already left the common room by that moment, which didn't bother them at all as the three of them hadn't gotten lost in the castle yet unlike most of their classmates.

Fortunately enough, it didn't take them long to reach the Dungeons. It was surprising to them that they actually managed to come in time, although they were the last among the other first years to enter the dimly lit vast room.

"Hey, Potter!" Harry snapped out of his thought, turning his head to the left as the three of them walked toward the front line of desks — all the other spots were already taken. "Tell us, what should we expect here?" asked Nott, his question accompanied by a few giggles coming from the other Slytherins.

"How would I know? I'm not taking divination course," he shrugged, sitting next to Draco and Ron.

"Well, who would need divination in your position?" The blue eyed boy sneered annoyingly, making Harry turn to him again, frowning a little. "I wish I attended a school full of my family members as teachers." There was another burst of laughter, this time even from some Gryffindors — Lavander Brown and Parvati Patil, if Harry remembered their names correctly.  
He narrowed his eyes at the girls for a second, making a mental note to give them a lesson of politeness sometime later before turning his attention back to Nott.

"I don't see why won't you leave Hogwarts right away if it's bothering you that much. Might as well save you from getting embarrassed many, many times throughout the upcoming years, too."

"Embarrassed? Are you implying that you are going to abuse your obviously privileged position in this school to harass me somehow? Oh well, I guess that is something to be expected from a guy like you. Already preparing to run to your mummy and complain about the evil Slytherins badmouthing you?" Before the collective laughter died out, Theodore paled a bit as he saw the tip of Harry's wand pointed straight at his face.

"I can see that you're still nothing but trash talk. How about us having a real fight if you're as powerful and brave as you try to appear in front of the servants you call your classmates?"

Everyone went completely silent, gazing at the two young wizards nervously and unwilling to intervene. Only Hermione seemed to want to say something in protest, but even the righteous girl decided to stay quiet when she noticed Draco threatening her with his fist and making a grimace, to which Harry was grateful — unlike the muggle born witch, Malfoy knew very well how things worked between pure bloods in such situations.  
At the same time, Nott rolled his eyes and chuckled, having a hard time keeping his cool mask up.

"Please. We have seen your _outstanding_ performance back on the train. It is surprising that you are even capable of holding your wand properly, Potter. Besides, I would never react to such an obvious taunt. You should try harder than this."

Harry pursed his lips, and albeit he didn't visibly cast any spells, something strange happened to Theodore's legs the next second — from Gryffindors' point of view it looked as if a heavy mace hit the boy's ankles, making him fall down onto the floor on his back, hitting his head hard and gasping in pain.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, and a detention with the Head of your House tonight. Lower your wand immediately." Everyone's heads turned to the entrance of the room to look at the owner of the beautiful yet firm and strong voice.

Harry sighed, taking his wand away. He realized that he had lost to Nott this time, no matter how he looked at it.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Mr. Nott, do you require medical treatment?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks. It was nothing," Theodore grunted, wiping dust off his robe as Daphne and a pudgy Slytherin boy helped him get up.

"Very well then. Let's start with a short introduction." The green eyed witch with long red hair gathered in a ponytail, dressed in a neat, rich looking black robe with silver ornament on its sleeves and collar stormed toward her desk, turning around to face her students. "My name is Lily Potter and I'm going to be your Potions teacher during the next few years. I'm sure that every single teacher you met so far told you a similar thing, but it's still my duty to let you know that Potions is one of the most important subjects both when it comes to your future as a wizard or witch and to your profession, too, whatever you're going to choose in your fifth year. If anything, the mastery of this delicate art is a must for all the elite professions out there, so I highly recommend every single one of you to pay attention during our classes if you want to achieve something when you grow up."

"By elite professions, do you mean the job of Aurors?" asked Neville, to which Lily nodded, noticing the strange vigorous expression on the boy's face as she replied,

"Yes, Mr. Longbottom, and not only that. For instance, Healers and especially Unspeakables need it, too. Your grades in Potions must be perfect if that's who you intend to become after Hogwarts."

"Why did you quit your job as an Auror, ma'am?" asked Nott, meeting the calm gaze of Lily's green eyes.

"I was asked by Professor Dumbledore to work here after Professor Slughorn had retired. Since the headmaster is my old friend, I couldn't refuse."

"Is it true that you have defeated the Dark Lord?" asked another girl from Slytherin — Pansy Parkinson, not the most pleasant person to interact with in Harry's opinion. But she wasn't very fond of Nott, which was a good thing on the other hand. He didn't want them united, especially under this cocky idiot's leadership.

"I have witnessed his downfall, but I wasn't the one who destroyed him."

"Was it your son, then?" asked Hermione, making The Boy Who Lived want to strangle her for a second. This silly book worm had no sense of tact what so ever...  
Meanwhile Lily frowned, looking at her son's classmate thoughtfully for a while before replying,

"This information is top secret. As you probably know, Harry Potter was the one who caused Voldemort's death, that is true," ignoring the collective gasp at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, she continued, "As for the rest of the story, I don't have the authority to reveal more details. I would also like you to raise your hand and introduce yourself before asking a question from now on, miss...?"

"Granger! Hermione Granger—I'm sorry, Professor!" The girl blushed terribly, bowing her head down and trying to ignore multiple chuckles and sneers coming from here and there.

"It's fine, Ms. Granger. Any more questions? Anyone? Very well," she said, nodding to the seemingly calmed down students. "Today I'm going to start teaching you the very basics of brewing different stuff, and we'll begin this wonderful journey with classification of ingredients we wizards typically use. As some of you might already know..."

Harry gritted his teeth, lowering his head and drawing meaningless scribble on the blank scroll of parchment that was lying in front of him.

Of course, he had been prepared for this long before he had arrived to Hogwarts. He had known that this was going to be happening to him, especially with his famous mother being their teacher now — it was inevitable and hardly surprising. And he didn't really mind it, at least to an extent. The most hurtful and irritating thing was the fact that he knew for sure that all of his peers who laughed at him today were nothing next to him. If he wanted to, he could crush them all in an instant. Not that he actually wanted to, of course...

Yet still, the fact that he wasn't even allowed to defend himself from them was what angered him the most. He knew, of course, that he wasn't supposed to pay any attention to his classmates and their foolishness. They didn't worth it anyway. Yet still...

During his early years, he had been growing up with the idea of being constantly bound in many senses. Ever since his father began his training, Harry knew that he would always be suppressed as well as his power, and his hands would always be tied both figuratively and literally. It was his fate as a chosen one, as well as all the attention he was receiving. He was fine with it so long as he had his family... And maybe his friends.

The boy glanced at Draco and Ron.

The blond was actually paying attention to Lily's lecture, constantly writing something down and looking at her while Weasley was doing the same thing as Harry himself — writing some random words and letters on the parchment to make it seem like he was doing something while in reality the red haired wizard was spacing out, clearly too bored with the subject of the lesson.

Harry grinned. Yes, he could say that he finally had some friends. With Draco being his secret best mate for years by now, Ron Weasley had somehow managed to fit into their company very easily and naturally, probably because they shared many interests and their attitude towards the school was similar — they found most of it being a waste of time, although each for their own reasons.

The Boy Who Lived was grateful to two of them. Although he never showed it, the fact that he had been growing up nearly completely isolated from pretty much everyone but his family until now made him feel a bit lonely, and this feeling was never going anywhere no matter what he would do. He had been taught not to trust anyone easily, and the boy wasn't sure what 'easily' exactly meant. And so he didn't. Unlike his careless peers, he would always be on his own. But his friends created at least an illusion for him. The illusion of not being alone when his family wasn't around.  
Speaking of his family...

Harry put the feather away and looked at his mother who was writing something on the blackboard, answering some of Hermione's questions concerning some herb at the same time.

He knew that while they were at Hogwarts, Lily would always have to be biased whenever it would come to him. No matter how perfect he would try to behave, she would still find a reason to take points from him from time to time just to show everyone that she was actually unbiased and her son wasn't getting any special treatment. It made him come to a simple conclusion — since he knew enough about Potions thanks to his mother's part of the training he had received prior to Hogwarts, he didn't have to pay more attention to this subject than it was necessary, especially considering that he never liked it all that much anyway.

In other words, his mother's class turned to be probably the most boring one to him, much to the boy's displeasure. But he couldn't help it, and acting like a brat wasn't an option either. Which meant that he would have to just try to be mediocre while doing something useful during Potions. That wasn't a trivial task, especially since Lily knew her son too well to let anything slip unnoticed...

Harry smirked in amusement. He had finally found himself a challenge...

"Now then, who can tell me what is the difference between Dittany and Aconite when it comes to brewing a simple restoration potion? Anyone?" Lily turned around and looked across the room, frowning as she noticed only two hands raised up — Hermione's and Draco's. "Well, Mr. Malfoy?"

"The difference is about the taste and the time it takes to make the potions, ma'am. With Aconite, it's more bitter and it takes about half an hour more to brew."

"That's correct, Mr. Malfoy. Five points to Gryffindor. And what about Dittany? Can you tell anything specific about it?" This time, Draco didn't reply, leaving only Hermione  
nearly jumping on her spot in the desire to answer the question which made Lily sigh patiently, shaking her head.

"You already earned ten points today, Ms. Granger, so I'd like someone else to have a word. Perhaps mister Nott would like to say something?"

Theodore shook his head.

"I don't know, Professor."

"Oh... Too bad. Well then, maybe Mr. Potter knows the answer?"

Harry flinched, raising his head and meeting his mother's eyes that looked nearly identical to his own.

Of course, he knew the correct answer. What she was teaching them today were mere basics, and he knew them since his early childhood. Still, he didn't want to show off, at least not here. He would take his time to shine later, in more interesting subjects...

"I have no idea, Professor."

Lily narrowed her eyes at her son, letting out a heavy, sad sigh which made Harry's heart twitch a bit.

"That's a shame. Yes, Ms. Greengrass?" she looked at the blonde girl who was sitting next to Nott and raised her hand timidly after the two boys failed to answer the question.

"From what I know, Dittany makes the taste of the potion more sweet and it also strengthens the effect a little bit which makes it more viable for those who can afford it, because this variation of the potion is more expensive."

"Splendid, Ms. Greengrass. Ten points to Slytherin. But there is also one more detail about this potion none of you mentioned," all of sudden, she turned to Ron who looked like he was about to fall asleep, not noticing anything that was going on around him. "If you use both these ingredients in a single portion of this potion, the result will exceed your best expectations, making it get one more fantastic effect which helps lazy students to hasten the flow of time and skip the classes up to the point where they can go to their beds. Isn't that correct, Mr. Weasley?"

Ron nearly jumped up at the mention of his name, turning his head to look at Lily and clearing his throat.

"Oh—yes, of course, Professor Potter."

There was a collective burst of laughter that consumed the classroom — even Harry and Lily herself grinned, which made Ron blush to the point where his face resembled beet in colour.

"Well, seeing as you clearly took this special version of the potion today, I hope you don't mind if I take five points from you and give it to Slytherin, seeing as you obviously need something to stimulate your activity during my lessons. Anyway, everyone, you are free for today. Your home task is on the blackboard," she flicked her wand and a few more lines appeared under the recipe of said restoration potion. "It was a pleasure to meet all of you. See you next time!"

With that being said, Harry threw his stuff into his bag as soon as he could and stormed out of the classroom, followed by Draco and Ron who tried to catch up with him but failed — when they walked out into the corridor outside the door, The Boy Who Lived was already gone, so they stopped for a while to decide what to do while the other students were passing by, heading upstairs to the next class.

"I guess he didn't take it very well," said Ron who already got over the embarrassing situation that had happened to him a few minutes ago. "I didn't know his mom was so harsh."

"She's not harsh, it's just that—ugh, no matter. You wouldn't understand anyway." Draco sighed, striding towards the ladder that led out of the Dungeons.

"Hey! Are you calling me stupid?"

"No, of course I'm not. That is your own conclusion, I didn't say anything remotely close to that," said the blond, receiving a poke of Ron's elbow on his ribs.

"Seriously though, we should look for him. Our next class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, and they say that the teacher is something else.

"Yeah, he is. At least from what I saw when I was a kid."

"Oh? So you know him, don't you?" Asked Hemione who followed the two of them closely, walking a few yards behind the boys.

Draco winced at the familiar voice, turning his head to look down upon the girl.

"Yes, I do, in a way. I don't see how is it any of your business, though. Don't you have anything better to do than overhearing what other people are talking about?"

The girl's cheeks reddened as she gasped,

"I—I wasn't trying to overhear! Honestly, I—"

"You what?" Draco stopped, and so did Ron, both of them turning around to face the muggle born witch. "Seriously, Granger, this is like the third time just today when you get on my nerves. I couldn't care less about your origins, but I swear, you are such an annoyance. Could you please leave us alone? For good, if possible. I think it is obvious that we do not enjoy your company at all." He regretted saying it the next second as he noticed the girl's eyes fill up with tears.

"I—I'm sorry...," she nearly whispered, rushing forward to get past the two of them and disappear somewhere up the stairs as soon as she could.

"Gosh, I hate such upstarts. Who does she think she is?" muttered Draco, to which Ron shrugged indifferently.

"No idea. Well, you know, she's a muggle born, so I wouldn't expect much from her. I mean, she knows nothing about our world, doesn't she?"

"I suppose," said Draco, going forward again. "To be honest, the only muggle born I ever talked to prior to Hogwarts is Professor Potter."

"Oh? Really?" Ron gasped, looking at his friend in awe. "Is that why you were so careful during her class?"

"Yeah, sort of. She's a very nice person. You could say that she was the reason why I actually stopped believing all the pure blood wizards' teachings about their supremacy with muggle born being inferior and so on. I mean, one doesn't simply defeat the Dark Lord without being exceptionally powerful, and she was one of those who did it."

"Agreed. Actually, in my family, muggles and muggle born wizards were never bashed, or at least I can't remember a single time anyone said something negative about them, not counting my mom's wrath when it comes to dad's obsession with muggle inventions. They are pretty cool, but kinda frightening, too."

"Yea, Harry has shown me some. They looked interesting, but I'd rather avoid touching them since I have now idea how they work." They stopped as they noticed something each of the boys partly expected to happen after Harry ran away so quickly. Still, no matter how predictable it was, Draco hoped that his best friend wouldn't go for something as reckless.

"Damn it...," he whispered, running towards the familiar boy who was sitting on the cold stone floor, leaning against the wall, holding his wand being broken in two pieces.

"Hey, Nott! Are you alright?" Draco stopped next to the Slytherin, bowing down to look into his half-open, depressed eyes.

"Yeah... Get lost, Malfoy."

Draco frowned, and so did Ron. Something was totally off with Theodore. He looked very hurt, both mentally and physically, and going as far as to break one's wand was not in Harry's character at all. He was passionate, but not cruel or foolish by any means. If his friend wanted revenge, he would act far more subtly than this...

In other words, it couldn't have been Harry... Or could it?

"Look, I know that we're not exactly friends, but if Harry did this to you—," Draco stopped, noticing Nott's face twist hatefully.

"Potter? Him again? Seriously? Why are you all obsessed with him that much? Malfoy, you of all people should know better than sticking to this blood traitor!" Stopping Ron who moved his hand to take his wand out the same second, evidently angered by Nott's words, Draco frowned and muttered,

"So it wasn't Harry who did this to you. Then who?"

It was clear that it was hard to for the dark haired Slytherin to even raise his head up to meet the slightly compassionate and suspicious gaze of his adversary.

"Please. As if this moron could do anything to me. As to who—it's none of your business. Get lost now, you bastards!"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Draco walked away, pulling the reluctant Ron along — it was clear that Weasley wanted to push further to find out the truth, but it would be dishonorable to abuse Nott's undeniably weak position. Totally unworthy of pure bloods like them, Malfoy decided.

After a minute of silent walking, Ron finally opened his mouth,

"Now that was really weird. Who could possibly break his wand and beat the crap out of him? I mean, Nott sure is a douchebag, but to go this far... I guess he crossed the way of someone important. Probably some older students. Maybe even Fred and George..."

"Don't you think it could be Harry, after all?" Asked Draco carefully, which made Ron chuckle.

"Harry? Really? You kidding, aren't you?"

"Well, it is a possibility—"

"Meh, it's not. I mean, Harry is the most peaceful guy in our year. Besides, you know him far longer than me. Has he ever shown any signs of being a psycho who beats up people for some worthless shit talk?"

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Draco shook his head,

"No, you're right, he hasn't. But it kinda complicates things a little bit," he said as they turned to the passage that led to the moving stairs.

"Complicate? How?"

"Well, try to look at it from a Slytherin's point of view. Should anyone find out about what happened to Nott—and they obviously will, seeing as his wand is broken—after what had happened during the Potions class, who is the first suspect that comes to your mind?"

Ron frowned, nodding in understanding.

"Okay, I get it. Are you implying that this person could try and frame Harry?"

Draco sighed as they stopped to wait for a stair to fly toward them.

"I bet that this is what's happening now. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Nott did that on purpose."

"Did what? Broke his own wand? Blimey, Malfoy, you must be kidding!"

"Who broke his own wand?" Asked the familiar voice from behind their backs, making both the Gryffindors flinch and turn around the next second.

"Harry! Where the heck were you?"

"Just wanted to let out some steam," the black haired boy smirked to his friends, stepping onto the stair and turning around to look at them. "What's up? You two look as if someone got killed in front of you."

"Well, that's not far from the truth," said Draco quietly, making The Boy Who Lived frown as they started to walk upstairs again.

"Huh? Now that is interesting. What happened?"

"Someone attacked Nott right after Potions. We kinda thought that—"

"You thought what? That I ran away to hide and ambush Nott? Really, guys?" Harry's brow cocked skeptically, making Draco and Ron look away shamefully.

"Uh... No, actually we thought it was unlikely, though not impossible. We found him near the entrance to the Dungeons, and he looked like something was hurting him, possibly a curse. And his wand is broken, like we said earlier. But when we tried to help him out, he told us to go away. Strange, isn't it?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah... Strange to say the least. Actually, I think it's worthy of an investigation." Harry scratched his nape, looking up in the direction of the classroom they were heading to. "Our next class is with Slytherin again, is that correct?"

"Indeed," Draco nodded approvingly.

"We should split up so that our field of vision covers the entire room. During the class, try to watch everyone very carefully, especially Slytherins. It's impossible for them not to discuss whatever happened to him, at least briefly. Anything they'll say on the matter is valuable information for us, even if it seems meaningless at first. Try to write down everything so that we don't lose any details."

"Woah, Harry. You speak like an Auror now," Ron grinned, making both Draco and Harry smirk as well.

"That's what I intend to become, after all. You guys should think about it as well, you know."

"Hey, don't be the second McGonagall. It's too early for that stuff yet!" groaned Ron as they approached the classroom they were heading to.

This time, they came way earlier than most, so the three friends managed to take the spots in different corners of the spacious room with something similar to a small arena in the middle, which made Harry's mood get significantly better. Were they going to have duels here?

But no matter how appealing this idea was to him, he had to put it aside for a while as the boy noticed how Slytherins started to arrive, sitting down and ignoring him completely, which was unusual yet expected considering what happened to Nott — they obviously thought that he was the one who did this. Was that what the person who had done that counted for? Or was it just collateral damage, so to say...?

Harry wasn't sure, but he was dedicated to find out. Whoever it was, he was grateful to this person for two things: first, kicking Nott's sorry ass; second — making the school life a whole lot less boring, which was probably even more important to young Potter. And no matter what intention did he or she really have, these two factors alone made this person an ally in Harry's eyes.

At least for now.

He didn't notice how everyone took their spots across the classroom and their teacher finally appeared.

"Take the books away, you are not going to need them here."

Everyone did as they were told, including Harry who smiled in anticipation — he was already beginning to like this man.

"My name is Severus Snape. From now on, I will teach you how magic really works."

Both the Gryffindors and Slytherins went completely silent, staring at the mesmerizing, gloomy man who had managed to impress them with just these two short sentences.  
He was dressed in a simple black robe with white shirt showing up from behind it. His hair was black, too, and it reached a bit past his shoulders. Although his face wasn't the most appealing to say the least, all in all he looked more mysterious rather than ugly or repulsive since he was dressed neatly and appeared well-groomed.

His black eyes suddenly stopped on the empty spot next to Daphne.

"Where is Mr. Nott?"

"He went to the Hospital Wing," replied the girl, looking completely impassive.

"What happened to him?"

"He said that he tripped at the stairs and fell down. I haven't witnessed it, but he is alright aside from his wand."

Snape peered at her searchingly for a few seconds before slowly nodding,

"Fine. For all I know, a new wand is not a problem for his family. It is unfortunate that he is going to skip the first lesson, though. Well, no matter." He turned his head to look around the classroom, stopping for a second to look into Harry's eyes that were filled with uncovered excitement. "First of all, I am going to set a few rules of utmost importance. If you follow these rules accurately while you study my subject, you will do just fine and there will be little to no difficulties for you. Break a rule, and you are going to face a whole lot of trouble." He locked his hands in front of himself and started walking back and forth slowly. "Rule number one — there is no Dark Magic, there are Dark Wizards. Every single spell, including the infamous Killing Curse, was designed by people for certain purposes that can be either good or bad, depending on your point of view. Spells, wands and magic are merely tools in the hands of people, and it is up to us which is Dark and which is not. Mr. Potter," he called out suddenly, turning toward the boy. "Could you give us an example of a single spell being good and evil in different situations?"

Harry raised up from his spot, thinking for a moment before replying,

"Yes, sir. There are countless examples — for instance, the exploding spell. One could use it to attack or even to kill someone during a fight, or, on the other hand, it can be used to free someone from a trap or to gather resources for building."

"Very well, five points to Gryffindor. Ms. Davis, another example?"

The brown haired Slytherin girl raised up as well, mumbling quietly,

"Uh... Well, the pushing spell can be counted, I guess? I mean, you could use it to build something or to do something helpful, and at the same time, you could use it to make someone fall down from a height..."

Harry's eyes widened as his head snapped in the direction of the girl. Of course, it was a very basic example, yet still... Something in her trembling, insecure voice made him thought that there was something beneath that. Could it be that she actually knew what exactly had happened to Nott? From what Draco and Ron had said to him, it was very possible that someone had pushed the Slytherin down the stairs so that Theodore had broken his wand as he had fallen down.

"Yes, that is a good example as well. Five points to Slytherin. Hopefully all of you get the idea now. No matter what reputation a spell might have, it is still neither good or evil itself. You are the ones who command magic and define it, not the other way around. Now, rule number two. During our practice, you do what I tell you to do. If I say 'jump', you jump. If I tell you to stop breathing, then you stop breathing until I allow you to. It is crucial for you to follow every single instruction of mine in order to make it out of this room alive. In exchange, I promise that none of you is going to get hurt unless you do something wrong. I hope it is clear as well."

There was a discordant chorus of affirmative replies, to which Snape nodded approvingly.

"And the last but not least. You may or may not be talented in magical arts, it doesn't matter here. But if you want to become decent wizards, you must first of all realize that since magic is a tool, it is used by other people. Contrary to how it could seem to you after attending certain classes, it is not an abstract concept that we study theoretically and try to decipher its deepest meanings. First of all, it is something that is bound to be used against you at some point. That means that knowing how a spell works is far less important than knowing how other wizards' minds work. Besides, as it's been proven by practice, every spell has a weakness," his eyes stopped on Harry for a second again. "Knowing this, you should realize that the most important thing is to figure your opponents out and to outsmart them, not necessarily to outfight them."

Every single student present in the classroom seemed to be completely awed by the little lecture Snape had given them, and that was only the beginning of a long lesson.

Harry turned to glance at Draco and Ron — they appeared to be pretty impressed and interested, just like The Boy Who Lived himself.

He grinned.

They had just found their favorite subject, so it seemed.

* * *

**Three chapters left for the prologue part. Please, don't forget to leave a review! It is very important for me to know what you guys think. Even a few trivial words mean a lot to me and sometimes make me want to start writing right away instead of doing something else!**


	5. The Fourth

**I'd like to thank everyone for your wonderful reviews! Thanks to your support, I managed to finish this chapter a week earlier than usual! Enjoy! And don't forget to review this one, please! :P Any constructive criticism is welcome, as well as any questions!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5. The Fourth**

Walking through the dimly lit passage down in the Dungeons, Theodore was heading towards the common room of Slytherin, barely holding back the urge to growl in utter frustration and anger that swallowed him completely. And considering the current circumstances, he had every right in the world to be mad.

Until now, all through his not so long life, the boy had never felt as humiliated as he began to feel recently. There were many reasons to that, and although young Nott always loathed those who tried to blame fate, God or anything else for their misfortunes, he couldn't help but feel like that was exactly his case right now.

For starters, the only person he had considered worthy of his friendship ended up among those blood traitors from Gryffindor Theodore always was told to stay away from, and moreover, he seemed to enjoy their company...

But not only Malfoy turned out to be huge a disappointment.

His future wife... The rightful property of their family, as his father had said to him after they had signed that bloody contract... She defied him, and he couldn't help it in any way.

No, Daphne never went against him openly. In fact, she remained as submissive and seemingly kind and friendly to him as usual, but he still felt her duplicity with every fiber of his being.

She hated him, without a doubt, and he was sure that she simply waited patiently for an opportunity to stab him in the back. One could say that Theodore was being paranoid when it came to his betrothed, but he could counter such accusation with ease.

Logically, being a typical Slytherin—well, perhaps not the most typical one, but a Slytherin nonetheless—Daphne couldn't possibly be very fond both of Theodore himself and neither of the position their parents had put the two of them into. At least the young wizard, despite his pretentiously cheerful attitude regarding this situation whenever he spoke about it with somebody, had realized it fairly quickly how unfair and dramatic it actually was to both of them.

Still, Daphne had been behaving absolutely flawlessly so far. In fact, she seemed to be _suspiciously_ perfect, at least in Nott's opinion. And it was slowly yet inevitably driving him crazy... Much to her amusement, it seemed. He could read it in her eyes whenever they looked at each other. She enjoyed his fear, probably far more than she enjoyed anything else in her miserable life nowadays.

Beside that, all in all his position in Slytherin was rather weak. That was certainly not something he had imagined back when he had been preparing for Hogwarts, especially with all the hopes his father had for him.

Unfortunately, leadership wasn't in Theodore's nature. Well, perhaps it was there to an extent, but if he had anything to say about it the boy always preferred to stay in shadows of more powerful people. Until now, his father had always been such figure in his life. And his position in his family was absolutely perfect in every aspect in the young wizard's opinion. Not only he had more than ample power to always get pretty much everything he wanted, but at the same time he also had little to no responsibilities whatsoever. What fool could possibly want something different?

And now, much to his displease, it seemed that he would have to lead his peers in his House throughout the next few years. There was simply no other viable option; Crabbe and Goyle were far too dumb to play this role; Zabini was a lazy bum, and the girls...

He grimaced and stopped, turning to the left and squinting slightly as he tried to find the right spot on the stone wall ahead of him in the weak light of multiple torches — the hidden entrance that led into their common room was somewhere near, but he still struggled whenever he had to find it alone.

The boy sighed tiredly, adjusting the pile of books he was holding with his left hand striding forward again as he finally spotted the small, barely notable crack on the surface of the wall.

Things sure hadn't been going accordingly up to this moment, and that's to say the least. He was unyielding enough to make an enemy out of Potter, as well as his bunch — as much as he and his family hated the Gryffindor boy and his brethren, Theodore realized that going against them was be the most unwise thing he could possibly do, perhaps even suicidal, when he thought about it. Not only Potters were exceptionally powerful in the ministry and Wizengamot, having the support of nearly all the major families and the unseen authority among them thanks to the story of The Boy Who Lived as well as his father's achievements, but also Harry Potter himself...

As cocky as he was, young Nott knew and could admit at least to himself that this boy was out of his league, frankly and literally. The small glimpses of immense power that radiated from him from time to time whenever Potter's hold over himself got weakened a bit were more than enough for Theodore to realize that neither he himself nor anybody else in their year could possibly match the Gryffindor, at least for now.

And the most demoralizing moment there was that Potter didn't even have to use his power and skill to protect himself. He had a lot of fans, and some of them were aggressive enough to do really dangerous and nasty things like the one that had happened to him shortly after that blasted Potions class three weeks ago when someone had ambushed him here in the Dungeons. Whoever the person was, he or she had broken his wand and had made him fall down the stairs, breaking two ribs beside getting a few other minor injures.

That incident had taught Nott that he shouldn't ever mess with Harry Potter. At least not anytime soon, not until he would gather an equally as strong support. And considering that he had most likely ruined all the chances to get to friendly terms with The Boy Who Lived, the only remaining option there was to try to stay as far away from him as possible, exactly like Daphne suggested whenever they crossed this topic.

Theodore gritted his teeth, calling out the password which made the heavy ancient wall move to the side, opening the entrance to their vast and gloomy common room.

Daphne... He had to come up with an idea what to do with her. Whether she was just a weakling and an idiot or she was actually plotting something against him, he would have to find a way to either subdue her completely and for good, or...

Or to get rid of her at some point. Permanently.

He smirked darkly, meeting the blue eyes of the girl that was sitting next to her friend Tracey Davis, writing some long essay — probably in Defense Against the Dark Arts as Snape was absolutely merciless when it came to homework, whether the students were from his House or not. Fortunately enough, Theodore was naturally talented in this subject, so he was the best among his House mates in this course.

Daphne smiled politely, lowering her eyes timidly which nearly made the boy take his new wand out and curse her right away.

No, he certainly had to come up with a plan. Otherwise he would end up at St Mungo's in no time for sure.

* * *

"Damn you, Harry! That was bloody brilliant! She didn't even see what hit her!" exclaimed Ron, slapping his friend on the shoulder cheerfully.

"Yeah, that was really cool. Especially the moment when she screamed like a banshee that she had spent two days on that research. This annoying bitch should know better than taking points from a member of her own House just because she dislikes Ron's brothers and is clearly biased," added Draco, smirking jovially.

"Well, you can't really blame her for that. Fred and George can be overly annoying sometimes, and our prefect is a drag with no sense of humour at all. Well, actually both of them are," the red haired added, rolling his eyes — clearly he was meaning his older brother Percy along with his female partner who seemed to have a strong grudge against Weasley twins.

"True that. But a prefect's position is just made for drags, so no wonder it's them and nobody else," said Draco, putting his hands into the pockets of his robe as they stopped near the turn that led to the moving stairs.

"How exactly did you do that, by the way?" asked Ron, glancing at Harry curiously.

"Nothing is impossible with magic," their friend shrugged the question off, smirking complacently and clearly not wanting to elaborate on the way he had made the fifth year's essay 'accidentally' fly straight into the fireplace back in their common room.

"Yeah, thanks, we know that, but still—"

"Oh, come on, Ron. Everyone must have their own secret tricks, you should know it better than anyone else seeing as you never tell anyone about your tactics in chess," said Draco who, unlike Ron, knew about the specifics of some of Harry's magical abilities, as well as was aware of the fact that his friend didn't like sharing this information with anybody, even with Malfoy himself.

"Fair enough," the red haired boy sighed, looking around. "So, what's the plan? Do we part here?"

"I suppose." Harry nodded, taking a short look at his watch. "Told you, I have a detention with Snape."

"Ow, lucky bastard. And here we are to spend the whole evening in the library. Boring," drawled the blond wizard, leaning against the stone railing of the stairs.

"At least you're not going to get cursed while you are there," the green eyed boy winked at his friend, lowering his foot onto the step. "See you later, guys."

"Yea, good luck, mate."

"Try to pull the same trick as we did last week!"

"Yeah, yeah," Harry turned around, waving off to his friends and striding downstairs.

The trick Ron was referring to actually was exactly what The Boy Who Lived was counting on tonight. The seemingly invincible and always impassive Professor Snape had one weak spot all the three of them had figured out and were gladly abusing whenever they could ever since — teaching was his absolute passion. It took asking merely a few questions concerning the Dark Arts or anything related to them, and sometimes it made Severus Snape rapidly forgot about the whole purpose of detentions, instantly turning them into additional lessons for a smaller audience which was, despite being probably even worse than the detention itself for most students, much to the amusement of the Gryffindor friends who liked the subject quite a lot.  
And it was especially useful since the head of their own House had no idea of how much did the three of them really enjoy Snape's classes, assuming that detentions with the Always So Grim And Strict Professor were the most harsh punishment possible for her students.

Thinking over a bunch of questions he was going to ask Snape during the following two hours, Harry nearly spaced out at some point, managing to stop next to the turn that led towards the Dungeons in the last second as he heard someones' quiet voices.

Coming close to the wall of the broad corridor he had been walking through, the boy moved slowly to peek around the corner as his hand slipped into the pocket of his robe reflexively.

Usually it wasn't in Harry's style at all to be hideous and to try to overhear anything. He was naturally too straightforward and blunt for something like that and, frankly speaking, he rarely cared about anything that didn't concern his direct interests. Perhaps he was in a strange mood tonight, or it was just a whim — the boy wasn't sure, so he decided to simply follow his intuition.

He noticed Flint and Mulciber standing not too far away from his position. Evidently they were bullying someone... Again.

Young Potter sighed inwardly, shaking his head. These two Slytherins were the dread to all the first years in Hogwarts, except for him and his friends, of course. For some reason Harry hadn't realized yet, no Slytherin above the first year wanted to cross his road in any possible way.

The green eyes widened slightly in surprise as he recognized the person that was now shaking, leaning against the wall and mumbling something to the pair of older wizards, stuttering and speaking in a very low voice that made his words hard to distinguish. It was Neville Longbottom, the usually very quiet chubby boy with pale blond hair and soft blue eyes.  
And next to him...

Right next to Neville stood Hermione Granger who seemed to be about to faint in utter horror.

"I—I told you to get—get away from her! She did nothing wrong! You two broke he rules!" yelped Neville, raising his hands in something vaguely reminiscent of a fighter's stance.

As much as Harry disliked Granger, on the other hand he knew the story of Neville's family very well. Albeit they'd had no chance to become friends earlier due to Harry's virtual isolation during his childhood, he always felt sympathy for this scampish boy who could very well have been The Boy Who Lived instead of him should things had gone a different way ten years ago.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it, you little shit?" grunted Flint, to which his friend cackled nastily, adding, "Just make another noise, and I'll send you right to your parents. You'll make another vegetable to the collection, ha!" Before he could start laughing, Neville's fist smashed into his chin, making the teen gasp and step back, only to receive a few more clumsy, weak punches.

"You bastard! I bit my tongue because of you—!" Mulciber frowned, kicking Neville heavily into his stomach which sent the boy down onto the floor with a loud moan of pain coming from him as Hermione squealed quietly, closing her mouth with her palms.

It was the perfect time to intercept, Harry decided then.

"Hey, Mulciber!" The tall black haired teen turned around, wiping the blood off his chin and noticing Harry who was pointing his wand right at his chest.

"Huh...?"

" _Impedimenta!_ " The spell hit Derek instantly, sending him down onto the cold stone floor right next to Neville. The sixteen years old wizard was far more proficient when it came to usage of magic than his friend Marcus Flint who, on the contrary, was well known to be on the level of a troll in nearly everything that was taught at Hogwarts, so it was out of the question for Harry whom to attack first.

"What the—!" Marcus looked down at his friend slowly before turning around as well, frowning at the small frame of the first year Gryffindor who was pointing his wand at him now. "What the heck are you doing here you midget? Get lost now if you don't wanna end up at Pomfrey's!"

"Oh? Well, I've been looking forward to this. Bring it on, what are you waiting for? Or perhaps harassing silly little girls is the extent of your might?"

"I—I'm not silly—!"

"Shut up, Granger. I wasn't talking to you," Harry didn't move his eyes from Flint who looked like he was about to outrage.

"Harry, Mulciber—!" blurted Neville huskily.

"Oh, right." With a short motion of his arm, Derek's wand flew out of his fingers that were about to grip it, ending up right in Harry's left hand.

"You little bastard...," groaned Mulciber, raising up from the floor and wiping dust off his mantle. "This is none of your business, Potter! She was meddling into our stuff, okay? And this little prick jumped in when we tried to reason with her!"

"Your stuff? Very interesting," said Harry, grinning and crossing his hands on his chest as he leaned against the wall on his shoulder. "I can't help but wonder what said stuff is, seeing as you are so angered by the fact that a _girl_ interrupted the fun between the two of you."

"We—!"

"You—!"

"What is going on here?" The familiar cold voice echoed from the farthest end of the corridor, making everyone turn their hands towards the gloomy tall figure that was coming to them swiftly. "Mr. Potter, whose wands are you holding?"

"It's mine, Professor Snape! Potter attacked and disarmed me!" Derek pointed at the green eyed Gryffindor with his finger, to which the boy barely managed to suppress a sneer, struggling to remain silent.

"Is that true?" The black haired man looked at his ward shrewdly with a tiny note of skepticism in his obsidian dark eyes before giving a short glance to Harry. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that a first year has managed to defeat you? If that is true, then I am not sure from whom to take points this time, seeing as you and Mr. Flint are being an embarrassment to our House. Besides... What is that?" He narrowed his eyes, cocking his head slightly to look behind Flint's broad back, finally noticing Hermione who was trembling in fear with her eyes so wide that it might seem as if she was seeing a ghost, as well as Neville who was holding his waist and panting heavily.

"I—I am—"

"We are—"

"Ms. Granger... And Mr. Longbottom," Snape paused for a second, returning his gaze to the older students. "I see now. Fifty points from Slytherin and detentions with Mr. Filch, for both of you. Leave my sight now," he deadpanned.

"But my wand—!"

"You can have it back later tonight when you come to my office to get assigned for your detention, Mr. Mulciber. Consider that a part of your punishment." Dereck nodded reluctantly, and the two Slytherins retired quickly under the freezing gaze of the Head of their House.

"As for you," Snape turned to the three Gryffindors, raising his hand — Mucliber's wand jumped out of Harry's grip before the boy could react, making him gasp in surprise and awe as he raised his head to look at their teacher, but the man had already hidden the magical tool in the folds of his black mantle. "Proceed to my office now. All of you."

"Well, that's where I was heading to anyway," sighed Harry, making Snape give him a slightly surprised glance over the shoulder as they strode towards the Dungeons.

"Is that so? And to what do I owe such honour? Please, do not tell me that you have received another detention already," said the man sarcastically, although there was hardly any venom in his voice.

"Got it. I won't tell you, sir."

Hermione frowned but evidently decided not to say anything, to Harry's relief. He totally didn't want to hear her jabbering at the moment, especially since they were likely to lose a lot of points because of her this time... After they had already lost a ton of them because of him, of course. But that was a different story.

"You are impossible, Mr. Potter," Snape shook his head as they walked down the stairs that led to his lair. "And here I thought you were a bit more wise than you father when he was your age."

"Well, to be fair, Professor, being wise has little to do with being unfortunate."

"Unfortunate, huh?" They didn't see it as they followed the man behind his back, but his lips curled into a small sarcastic grin. "Well, if that is what you prefer to call it."

Harry sighed sadly, muttering,

"What else could you call it when your own mother is one of your teachers and is clearly biased whenever it comes to anything related to you?"

"Professor Potter is not biased! She's just—"

"Oh well, apparently you know her much better than I," said Harry snidely, interrupting the girl while Neville just listened to their conversation silently, frowning a little.

Snape sighed heavily, opening the door to the room that was surely one of the most feared among the students of Hogwarts.

"Come in," he made a welcoming gesture, and the three Gryffindors entered the office, the two of them looking around curiously with caution — unlike Harry, they had never been here before.

"Settle down, all of you," said Professor Snape, coming close to his own desk and sitting onto it, peering at his students searchingly and maintaining a short, slightly intimidating eye contact with each of them one by one.

"Well then. First of all, Ms. Granger. I am taking twenty points from you for your foolishness and naiveness. Evidently you were not taking my lessons very seriously, because otherwise you would know better than deliberately getting into a situation where you are completely outmatched, putting yourself and your fellow classmate in danger given that you are well aware of who Mr. Flint and Mr. Mulciber are." The girl blushed horribly, too afraid and ashamed to look at anyone present in the room.

"Mr. Longbottom. Whereas it was brave and noble of you to stand up for your hapless classmate, I find the fact that you decided to fight with your hands instead of trying to do something smart or at least casting a spell rather disappointing. I am not going to take any points from you, but I highly recommend you to train your magic and your spell work a lot more intensively. You are a wizard, not a muggle brawler." The boy nodded, looking away shamefully as well but smiling sheepishly at the same time.

"And finally Mr. Potter... Aside from the fact that I am most displeased to find out that I will have to spend more time in your company so soon, I would like to commend you for your skill and the tactical thinking. Defeating two fifth years' is quite a feat for someone as young as you. It also makes me feel a little relieved; at least one first year actually pays attention during my classes. Therefore I am giving twenty points to Gryffindor." The boy grinned, not believing his luck as he realized it quickly that, in fact, they haven't lost a single point in this situation unlike the Slytherins. And that was thanks to him, at once.

"Mr. Longbottom, Ms. Granger, you are dismissed. Ms. Granger, kindly help Mr. Longbottom on his way to the Hospital Wing if he needs any medical treatment.

"No—I mean, I'm fine, sir."

"Very well then. In either case, feel free to leave."

The two of them went out of the room quickly, and Harry who was looking greedily at the various tomes on the bookshelves around didn't notice the long, thoughtful stares each of them gave to him before getting out of Snape's Office.  
The door finally closed, and the older wizard flicked his wand, making a few stacks of scrolls appear on the desk in front of his student.

"Sort these out. I want the job done in an hour, but you can leave earlier if you manage finish it faster."

"Got it, sir! Will do!"

But of course he wasn't going to waste his time on something as useless. It didn't take the boy more than ten minutes of reluctant paper work before he finally raised his head, coughing,

"Sir?"

Snape didn't look at him, keeping writing something down with his feather.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"May I ask a question?"

"You have already asked a question, but you may go for another one, yes."

Harry smiled.

"Well, you see, I've been thinking about the differences between similar spells. For instance, let's say the Impediment Jinx and a stunner. They work pretty similarly, aren't they? But why are the incantations and the movements are so different then?"

The Professor didn't reply right away, keeping silence for a few seconds before muttering,

"What do you think?"

Harry frowned. Of course, he partly expected such response as it was very much like Snape to respond this way, but it was still a bit frustrating to see that the teacher didn't exactly welcome his enthusiasm this time — probably it had something to do with how tired he appeared at the moment.

"Well, I venture to guess. Is it somehow related to the thing that you told us in our first lesson? Because one was created for the purpose of protection, and the other one is meant to be used to attack. They were also created by different people, and it is us humans who create the ways to command magic, so—"

"So historically, it happened purely due to the particular qualities of those who created these spells whilst the difference between the spells themselves is insignificant. That is a correct assumption."

"But if that's the case..." The boy stopped, which made Snape finally look at him questioningly, perhaps even a bit curiously. "If that's the case, then why do we even rely on spells all that much? Seeing as many people can command magic without their wand — for example, like you did to retrieve Mulciber's wand and—"

"And also like you did to disarm him, Mr. Potter, yes. That is an interesting question. But I am sure you can figure it out on your own." He lowered his eyes again, which nearly made Harry curse aloud.

But he wasn't ready to give up yet.

"Well, I've been taught to do this since forever, really. But dad told me that he had only acquired this ability not so long ago, already after my birth. Does it mean that there are other ways to learn is aside from controlling the childish accidental magic?"

"Yes, there are other ways," came the immediate reply with the tiniest hint of irritation in the voice.

"But what are these ways?" asked the boy impatiently, making his teacher sigh and put the feather aside. Harry didn't notice how it became truly important for him to find out the truth on this matter. It wasn't just him attempting to avoid his punishment anymore, he was more than genuinely interested.

"Why would you need to know? Aren't you already satisfied with the fact that you can do this unlike nearly every single peer of yours?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise and a bit of anger at the sudden question that sounded unexpectedly provoking and perhaps even a bit mocking.

"What...? What does this even have to do with anything?" he asked indignantly, completely missing the word 'nearly' in the last sentence of the Professor.

Snape winced a little as if he felt toothache seeing the sincere incomprehension and hurt in the so familiar green eyes of his student.

He couldn't help it, this boy resembled the eleven years old version of James Potter in too many ways, and Severus remembered too well how arrogant his rival used to be back when he was Harry's age.  
But at the same time... James' son was like a fixed version of the man, probably thanks to Lily and to the education they gave the boy together. And despite all the conflicted feelings Severus had for this child and for his parents, he realized that it was, for many reasons, partly his responsibility at this point to help Harry Potter grow up into a decent person given all the hidden power the boy had in him, as well as the prophecy. Under these circumstances, there was absolutely no guarantee that he would end up becoming a man who had realized, admitted and fixed his flaws and mistakes like James... and Severus himself.

That's why he had to help it in every possible way, Snape realized.

Harry Potter was still just a child. He was like a blank list of parchment, and it was up to his surroundings what was to get written on it.

"Perhaps it does not. You must understand how important it is to control this power, Mr. Potter. It is not to be used against other students unless they threaten your life, which I doubt was the case today."

The boy snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Now you're starting to sound like my dad...," he mumbled, feeling a bit ashamed. He really hadn't had to rely on the wandless magic this time, but it just had come so naturally, as if he just moved an invisible limb of his... Quite like a few times before when he faced Nott.

"Your father is correct then, Mr. Potter. Considering _who_ your foe is, you need to take things far more serious than you do. You clearly lack discipline a lot as of now."

Harry sighed again, looking away and blushing.

"Mom tells me the same, eh..."

Snapes' features softened a little as he crossed his hands on his chest, revealing the white sleeves of his shirt from under the neat black mantle.

"She is also correct. Your parents are very wise people, Mr. Potter. You should pay more attention to what they say to you. And even if your mother's attitude seems unfair to you, there is a good reason to it you simply haven't realized yet."

"I understand. I'm doing my best, sir," came the quiet reply as the boy stared at the surface of his desk shamefully.

"No, you are not. Otherwise we would not be having this conversation now as you would avoid receiving this detention."

The young wizard didn't reply at first, thinking over his words for a while.

"Well, I guess you have a point... Thank you, Professor. I will try harder from now on."

Severus nodded.

"Yes... Make sure you do. You must always remember that there are no good or evil wizards, Mr. Potter. Just like I always say to all my students, there are only those who can get a hold themselves and their magic and those who can't. It would be a big shame seeing you among the latter."

Harry frowned, finally raising his head to meet the cold black eyes.

"That's another thing I wanted to ask about. You say that there are no good or evil wizards... I understand that, well, partly. But what about the law? Isn't it safe to consider all the criminals evil?"

Severus sighed, gazing at the boy for a few seconds as if trying to decide whether he should tell the young wizard whatever was on his mind or not.  
Then he opened his mouth, uttering quietly,

"There are many cases of people breaking the law for the greater good. I am the prime example."

The Boy Who Lived felt a little baffled at the confession. This was totally contradicting everything he had been taught since the day he was born. And it was also breaking his picture of the world, making everything far more complex in his eyes. He didn't like it.

"What do you mean, sir? Surely you are not a criminal, are you? I mean... You helped mom and dad to defeat Voldemort, didn't you?"

Snape's face didn't change one bit at the mention of his former master's name, but he winced slightly at the question itself, making another short pause before finally saying,

"That is true. However, I was also the one who had been working for Voldemort for years before it occurred. Like I said, technically I was a criminal. In reality, precisely this thing has provided me with the opportunity to save your life, the lives of your family, as well as many, many others. Lawful, criminal... These are just labels, Mr. Potter. Nothing in this world is absolute, and very few things in our lives truly matter. If you are interested in my advise... Always do what you feel is the right thing to do and never pay much attention to what others say or think about you. If you are truly important to them, they will stand by your side no matter what happens, even should you become thrice a criminal. Everyone else are just phony people who are not worthy of your time and effort." There was a strange hint of pain in his voice, as if he was referring to a specific person from his past as he said it.

Harry swallowed heavily, nodding slowly as he gazed at the professor as if he had just seen a ghost instead of the unusually voluble man.

"Very well then. You are dismissed for tonight, for the paperwork becomes meaningless seeing as you have learned your important lesson. Be sure to come prepared for our next class."

"Alright, sir. Good night."

The boy left the room, feeling his limbs getting numb at the swirl of thoughts that consumed him after the shocking revelation.

Severus Snape, the man whom his father called a hero, was also a Death Eater. A criminal. Someone who, without a doubt, had killed innocent people. How was this possible...? If they couldn't call criminals evil, then how could they even distinguish those who should be punished?

After all, it was impossible for everyone to be completely exceptional. If there was one Severus Snape who was a hero and a villain at the same time, then surely there were many, many other people similar to him. Then how were they supposed to deal with them? And more importantly, did it also mean that there was probably no completely innocent and good people at all? Turned out that everyone was evil to some extent. Were they even supposed to fight evil in this case...? To fight... Themselves?

Being completely consumed by these bothersome questions, Harry didn't notice how he reached the Gryffindor Tower, coming close to the portrait of the Fat Lady and entering the common room after calling out the password.

Draco and Ron haven't returned yet, it seemed. Since it was already pretty late in the evening, the room was full of people much to his displease. The boy totally wasn't in the mood for a noisy company, so he decided to head to the bedroom right away — there were too many things on his mind at the moment, so he wanted to be left alone at least for a while.

Unfortunately, that was not going to happen. Just as he came close to the spiral staircase, he heard the soft, slightly faltering voice calling out his name,

"Um... Harry? Can I have a word with you... Please?"

Wincing in annoyance at the question, The Boy Who Lived turned around to meet the familiar blue eyes.

"What is it, Neville?"

The chubby boy looked around cautiously, making an inviting gesture for Harry to sit in the chair next to him, to which the black haired wizard nearly rolled his eyes but followed nonetheless.

"I'm listening," he said, sitting down and watching at his classmate impatiently.

"Uh...," he looked around again before saying timidly, "You see... I wanted to thank you for helping us out—I mean, what happened with those Slytherins..."

"You're welcome. Is that all?" He was about to get up, but then the unexpectedly loud and abrupt response came,

"No," Harry frowned, returning his eyes to Neville.

"Huh?"

"I—I also noticed that you, Ron and Draco are hanging out together. And study magic together, too. Seeing how easily you dealt with Mulciber and Flint, I—I wanted to ask you—maybe—may I join you guys?"

Now that was surprising. Finally the boy had spilled out what was the real reason to this conversation and now it made sense to young Potter.

Personally he had nothing against the idea of Neville joining their bunch. He was brave and had shown the guts to fight a fifth year — that was more than enough for Harry to respect the boy and feel sympathy for him even aside from his family story.

The question was what Draco and Ron would say. None of them seemed to be very fond of Longbottom... But at the same time, they never said anything bad about him either.

"Well...," he muttered slowly, feeling a bit awkward at the immense hope he was seeing in his classmate's eyes. "I suppose that can be arranged. But I must talk to them beforehand. Let's say... Meet us here at midnight, alright?"

Neville nodded, smiling brightly.

"Got it!"

"I'm going to find them now. They are supposed to be in the library at the moment. See you, mate."

"Yes... See you, Harry."

Neither of them noticed the pair of brown eyes watching them carefully from the couch near the fireplace.

Hermione bit her lip thoughtfully, looking at Harry's back as he left the room.

* * *

"Woah... I mean, seriously? Blimey, mate! You should now expect the entire Slytherin tailing you wherever you go!"

"Yep. One doesn't simply kick Mulciber's arse without... Consequences," Malfoy scratched his thin, looking searchingly at Neville who avoided their eyes, staring at the floor.

"Well... It's not like I can help it. I guess I just have to be wary from now on," he replied simply.

"Still, that was awesome! But why did you decide to stand up for that bookworm? She's such a drag," groaned Ron, glancing at the stair that led to girls' bedrooms.

"Uh... But she's our classmate, isn't she? I thought that was what we're supposed do... I mean, protecting our fellows no matter what."

Harry who was remaining quiet as they discussed what had happened earlier nodded in approval.

"It is. You did a great job. So what do you guys think? Impressive, innit?"

"It sure is," nodded Ron.

"Yeah. I wish I have witnessed the show myself," Draco smirked.

"So...," said Neville, looking at them sheepishly. "Can I join you guys? I mean, your company... Become a part of it."

"Sure, why not," Ron shrugged.

"I don't mind it either. Besides, this way we'll have more ways to watch each other's backs. The Slytherins are not going to leave it as it is after what you did," mused Draco.

Longbottom smiled weakly.

"I know. But that's something I'm supposed to be getting used to."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Harry frowned.

The shy boy sighed, muttering sheepishly,

"I—promise you won't be laughing."

"Promise!" The three of them said simultaneously.

Hesitating for a few seconds, Neville uttered so quietly that it nearly sounded like a whisper,

"I want to be come an Auror after Hogwarts."

There was a long pregnant pause. Nobody seemed to want to laugh, but each of the boys had conflicted thoughts on the matter as it was something they had been avoiding discussing for the last few weeks, but it was still always there ever since Harry had first mentioned it.

"So what? I'm going to become one as well," shrugged Harry indifferently, making Draco frown.

"Damn you...," groaned Ron, rolling his eyes. "Not this again..."

"Why not? I told you guys, you should all consider this. It's one of the most prestigious and interesting jobs out there, and besides, if we are in this together, we'll be able to help each other in many ways, not to mention that it's a lot of fun."

"Yeah, and it's also possibly the hardest profession. I don't feel like wasting all my free time on studying and digging through tons of books, mate. I'm not Granger," said Draco.

"Eh... Well, if you put it like this, Harry...," Ron scratched his nape thoughtfully, gazing at the ceiling of the room. "Some money wouldn't hurt me for sure. Besides, nobody in my family has become an Auror in ages. In fact, I don't remember if anybody ever has. That would make me somewhat unique, which I certainly wouldn't mind considering how many siblings I have."

"Well? Told you, this idea is brilliant. Imagine an Auror squad formed out of just the four of us. We'd become a legend!" Harry smirked, making Ron and Neville grin as well while Draco frowned a bit again, looking away. Harry could easily figure out what he was thinking about at the moment — the various spectrum of people starting from his father's shady friends and finishing with that dark wizard they had met in Knockturn Alley years ago — the old man named Xhul.

"Do you realize that it's gonna be hard as hell?" finally muttered the blond, still not looking at his friends.

Harry's brow cocked skeptically.

"Since when are you afraid of hardships, Malfoy?"

The boy blushed, glaring at the green eyed wizard angrily.

"I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Then what's the problem?"

Malfoy groaned, slapping his face with his palm and shaking his head in defeat.

"Fine. Alright. Screw it. I'm down. Let's all become Aurors."

"Hell yeah!" Harry and Ron exclaimed cheerfully.

Neville smiled happily, and even Draco couldn't hold back a grin.

At the moment, each of them felt that this was the beginning of a really great adventure.

* * *

**Two chapters left for the prologue part. Next chapter: Hermione is finally going to make her move!**

**Please don't forget to leave a review! It is vital for me to know what you guys think and it totally helps me write faster and better! No kidding! ;)**


	6. Parting With Illusions

**Thanks everyone for the reviews and support! Here is the newest chapter for you guys. Please don't forget to review! Any constructive criticism is welcome, as well as any questions!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 6. Parting With Illusions**

"What a wonderful performance, Ms. Abbott. Ten points to Hufflepuff, you have deserved it today. You may also feel free to skip writing the essay about this spell for our next lesson. Well done," Professor McGonagall gave the happy girl a tiny smile, slightly shaking her head the next second at Hannah's Gryffindor partner that was sitting next to her, terribly blushing and trying desperately not to look at anyone around her.  
It was a really tough day for Hermione Granger. Not that it was all that different from all of her previous days at Hogwarts, though, but today was just something exceptional.

Not only had she managed to screw up her performance twice due to feeling too stressed and nervous lately, but she also had failed her House mates by losing ten points because of that by upsetting Professor McGonagall, and rightfully so, at least in Hermione's own opinion. Still, losing points wasn't the biggest problem the muggle born witch was facing at the moment.

On top of all that...

The most bothersome thing was the fact that everyone in the classroom laughed at her misfortune whenever they received an opportunity. Even the Gryffindors, her fellow House mates. They couldn't care less about the points — the amusement they felt whenever they witnessed her misery evidently compensated it all.

And here she was now, sitting in the back of the ancient hall they were using as their classroom for Transfiguration lessons, hugging herself and shaking, trying her best not to sob with everyone glaring at her as the students were gathering their books and other stuff in preparation to leave. The lesson was nearly over, but Hermione wasn't in rush to get to the Great Hall for the lunch.

No, she just wanted to be left alone for a while so that she would be able to let her emotions out.

Ever since that day two weeks ago when Professor Snape took her first points ever from the girl after Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter had saved her from the Slytherins, Hermione had been thinking a lot concerning her attitude and behavior, and by now she had reconsidered many important things. Contrary to what Harry (who also happened to be her only rival in Gryffindor when it came to studies, so his opinion was one of the very few that truly mattered to Hermione) thought of her, she wasn't stupid by any means, and she had quickly realized what grave mistakes she had done after analyzing everything that had happened.

She was a total mess. A big, colossal failure. And it seemed like she had already gone past the point of no return. Everybody in her House began to hate her, and no matter what she tried to do to fix it, it didn't seem to change in the slightest.  
And now she also had no chance in hell to befriend The Boy Who Lived himself anymore, obviously. It was pretty evident seeing his uncovered despise for her that he demonstrated whenever their paths crossed, even though he usually preferred to ignore her.

Still, she hadn't lost her hope yet. She had accidentally heard that—no, she shook her head, correcting herself silently. Actually, she had _overheard_ that Harry, Draco, Ron and Neville had decided to become Aurors after Hogwarts. Ever since that day, or rather since the moment when they had saved her from Mulciber and Flint, the girl had been willing to join them. She desired to become a part of their team, and not only because all the four of them seemed to be very promising wizards and their goals were noble and respectable, but also because she was... jealous.

Yes, she had always dreamed of having such friends. Of being a part of something similar to what the four of them had right now. She would pay a lot for such a chance.

That's why Hermione had been watching all the four of them carefully from a distance ever since that evening, trying to figure out the best way to approach them and to make them hear her out.  
To give her a chance to fix everything she had done...

Luckily enough, they weren't very hideous in regards to their plans. As she quickly realized, that was most likely because they were simply taunting her and the Prefects to snitch on them. Of course, she would never do such thing... At least not anymore.

On the other hand, such behavior of theirs provided her with a wonderful opportunity. She could actually help them... somehow. She wasn't sure what could she do, but there just had to be a way. Hermione refused to give up so easily.

For instance, she knew for sure that they were very interested in finding out who had attacked Nott back in September. And so far they weren't any successful at that — not that it was a trivial task, she could admit.

Still, Hermione was thinking about it too nowadays as it was her only idea that she thought could really work out.  
Logically, the only people who could possibly reveal any valuable information on this matter would be Nott himself as well as his closest people in Slytherin, which would be Daphne Greengrass and possibly Blaze Zabini who seemed to hang around Theodore quote a lot lately.

But how could she get either of them to talk to her, let alone cooperate? That was another obstacle she had yet to find a way to overcome.

The door to the classroom shut, making Hermione flinch and get up slowly, putting her bag on the shoulder and grabbing her textbook from the desk. She didn't really notice anything around as she walked out of the empty room, too absorbed by her thought as she was passing by a few sets of plate armor placed on huge pedestals along the walls of the corridor, at some point turning to the stairs that led to the nearest bathroom.

In a minute or two she entered one of the empty cabins after making sure that there was nobody else inside the bathroom, closing the door and sitting down before covering her face and beginning to shake silently as tears flowed down her face.  
All of that was truly far to stressful for the young witch to withstand, being completely alone in the foreign world where nearly everyone hated her... And having so many problems to solve at the same time didn't make the situation any better either, especially when everything she believed in was falling apart. All of the principles she had been raised with, about the law and the rules being the most important things, the pinnacles of the society... About her being not worse than anyone else by default.  
Yes, she had realized by now that she was a lot worse than many of her peers. And no matter how hard she worked, the gap between her and them didn't seem to shorten at all...

She lost the track of time pretty soon, but when the creaky door of the bathroom opened again, the Gryffindor held her breath, snapping her head as she heard the soft sounds of someone's footsteps closing in. Somebody was there, just a couple yards away from her... Had they followed her, or...?

"He's acting really weird, you know. I'm aware that he's not very fond of your situation, but come on... He _is_ the boy, and even you took it all far easier than him," said a girl — the voice was familiar, but Hermione couldn't remember instantly to whom it belonged.

"I know... I think it also has something to do with that attack. He has changed after that," replied the soft, gentle voice.

There was a short pause which made Hermione close her mouth in the sudden realization and in fear of uttering a sound that could give her presence away.  
She knew the person that had just replied — it was Theodore Nott's quiet friend.

Daphne Greengrass!

"Well, I recall you telling me that he had received a very unpleasant letter from his father after it had happened. So I guess it's no wonder, but still, why is he such a bugger?"

Another pause... Hermione's eyes widened. Were they talking about Theodore..?

"I have no idea, Tracey. But he has been acting really weird ever since that day."

"And he still hasn't figured it out, has he? I mean, who did that to him..."

Hermione frowned at the sound of a quiet chuckle that came in response. What was even funny there...?

"No, he hasn't. I'd love to know that myself. Everyone says that the only plausible option is Harry Potter, but somehow I doubt that."

"Huh? But why? Wouldn't it be perfectly logical for him to seek revenge for what Theo did at Potions back then? And also on the train..."

"I know, but it would be totally out of his character to do something like that."

Another giggle, but this time it came from Tracey Davis.

"You're saying this as if you know Potter any better than all of us. You haven't even talked to him aside from that one time... Does it have something to do with the fact that you've been watching him since day one?"

Daphne sighed heavily, making Hermione frown even more.  
Watching him? Why on earth would she need to watch Harry...?

"You could say so. Harry Potter is too prideful and noble to attack somebody from behind. No... it would take a Slytherin to do something like that. Gryffindors prefer more straightforward ways, they wouldn't hide their faces afterwards. And the only ancestral Slytherin who could possibly support him... Well, you know. It's Draco Malfoy. At least I suspect him... Yes."

"Huh? Malfoy...?" Tracey's voice sounded very doubtfully, but to Hermione's surprise, this version almost didn't have any flaws.

Almost.

Except for the fact that Draco wasn't the one who had done that. The Gryffindor girl remembered that day very clearly. Nott had already been there when she had run past him, and both Draco and Ron Weasley had been been walking behind her after they had—she winced at the memory.

After they had told her to leave them alone...

"Well, think about it," continued Daphne, "It happened right after the Potions class, so it definitely had to be someone from our year. Older students simply wouldn't have had enough time to find out. It was either one of us or Professor Potter, but it would be ridiculous to suspect her, don't you think so? I mean, have you even seen how she treats Harry? That's why Malfoy is the only option that makes at least some sense."

Tracey hemmed thoughtfully before drawling quietly,

"Well, I guess you have a point here... Still, I'd really like to know for sure who did that."

"Me too. Anyway, we should hurry up for the lunch. Professor Flitwick doesn't like it when we're late, and I don't want to be scolded again."

"Yea, you're right. let's go."

Just to make sure that they wouldn't notice her presence, Hermione waited for a good few minutes after they left, trying to calm her racing heart down and thinking rapidly.

Now she finally had a clue. She had a way to prove herself worthy to them.

She needed to find Harry and tell him what she had just overheard as soon as possible!

* * *

"I tell you, this is how it works."

"But it doesn't!"

"Yes, it does."

"Blimey, Harry! No! It doesn't! No matter what I do, it just _doesn't_!" exclaimed Ron with his face reddening as he aimed his wand again at the self made dummy that was standing in the corner of their common room that was nearly empty at the moment aside from the three sixth years that were sitting in the opposite corner of the room, doing their homework and not looking even remotely interested in what their younger House mates were doing.

"That's because you're waving your wand around like a mad man. Try focusing more on what you expect the spell to do instead of paying too much attention to the way you cast it."

"But it doesn't mean that I shouldn't move my wand at all...!"

"Dear Lord, mate... You really need to calm down," drawled Harry grumpily and leaned against the back of his chair, crossing his legs and rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, relax. The fact that you're the only one who hasn't managed to make it yet shouldn't upset you this much." Draco and Neville glanced at each other, smirking understandingly which made Ron groan.

"Screw you guys... You are even worse than Fred and George."

"I take it as a compliment," said Neville jovially which made Draco grin and look at Harry who was staring at the ceiling of the room distantly with an impassive expression, nearly spacing out. "Hey, mate? Are you alright?"

"Huh...?" The black haired boy's perplexed gaze slid to his friend before he give him a weak smile and shook his head quickly. "Yeah, 's okay. Just a bit tired, that's all."

"Well... If you say so," muttered young Malfoy doubtfully, frowning and turning his head towards the entrance of the room as they heard the familiar sound of the portrait opening up to let someone enter inside.

"Oh, look whom we got here...," groaned the blond boy quietly, making Neville and Ron turn their heads in the same direction as well.

"Careful, guys. She's coming at us," mumbled Ron, lowering his wand and sitting on the small stool that was next to him to take a break from his training.

"Hey, Granger," said Draco, smirking devilishly. "What's up? Somebody breaking rules again? Sorry, the prefects aren't here. You may feel free to leave."

"I—," The girl stopped near the four of them, panting and leaning her hands against Harry's chair from behind, to which he just closed his eyes, trying to ignore the annoying classmate he had grown to dislike quite a lot. "Boys... Can I talk to you? Please, this is very important!"

"Important, huh? Is this about some homework we forgot to do?" Ron sneered, to which Draco chuckled as well while Neville just looked away, barely suppressing a smile.

"No! No... Please. Just hear me out!"

"You have thirty seconds, Granger. Shoot it," said Harry, still not moving and not opening his eyes — it was clear that he was having a hard time tolerating the girl's presence.

"Oh—Of course! I... Look, it's a bit complicated—"

"Twenty seconds."

"Fine... Fine! Look, Harry! I know you've been wondering who had attacked Nott back then—"

The green eyes snapped open the moment she said the name of the only person in the whole castle whom young Potter disliked even more than the girl herself, making him jump up from the chair and turn around, looking at the girl incredulously.

"And I take it you've come to tell me that it was you?"

"No—! No—not me. But I think I can help you find out who did this. And also..." She looked around, lowering her head and adding quietly as she narrowed her eyes slightly, "I thought you might be interested in the fact that one of his friends has been watching you for a while by now."

"His friends? Are you talking about Zabini? Or Crabbe... Or maybe Goyle?" Ron laughed at the ridiculous idea. Neville smirked as well while Draco frowned a bit, biting his lip worriedly.

"No! Not them. It's Daphne Greengrass. I heard—well, overheard—accidentally—!"

"Overheard what, exactly?" Asked Harry impatiently, crossing his hands.

She took a deep breath before opening her mouth again,

"Daphne Greengrass and her friend, Tracey Davis. They were discussing it in the bathroom—what had happened to Nott back then, I mean. Tracey mentioned that everyone in Slytherin suspects you, Harry, but Daphne said that she doesn't think so. Then Tracey asked her if it was because Daphne had been watching you, and she didn't deny that!"

"Watching, you say? Damn, that sounds dangerously close to stalking if you ask me," Ron whistled while Malfoy let out a loud sigh, looking remarkably relieved for some reason as he heard Daphne's name.

"Oh well, it seems like you've already earned yourself a fan girl, mate. If not for the contract—"

"Shut up, Draco," he glanced at his friend to which he, surprisingly enough, nodded slowly, realizing belatedly that it wasn't their secret to share. "Fine, I get it. What else?" asked Harry, turning back to Hermione.

"Else...? Well, Daphne also said that she thinks it was Draco who attacked Nott."

"Huh? What the heck?" The grey eyes of the blond widened in surprise with a slight note of fear. "Why me?"

"Uh... Well, according to Daphne, they believe you to be the only Gryffindor who is Slytherin enough to do something like that—"

"That's a pile of dragon crap! I'm a Gryffindor! Who the hell does this idiot think she is?!" Draco looked like he was about to outrage, so Ron came closer to him, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Calm down, mate. We know that. They are just mad because you went a different way and decided not to side with the losers."

"Still, Greengrass has a point," Harry scratched his chin thoughtfully. "We thought it was one of Slytherins, too. Possibly even Nott himself, intending to frame one of us. But it doesn't matter. What actually does is that neither her nor Davis knows for sure who did it. It's another proof to our version, innit?"

"Well, for the lack of a better clue...," muttered Ron, nodding slowly.

"What are we going to do about this?" finally asked Neville, frowning at his friends.

"That's a million galleons question, buddy. Granger," Harry looked into the soft brown eyes of the girl who looked back with a glimpse of uncovered hope, "Why did you tell us all this?"

The girl gasped, caught by surprise with this question.

"I—I, well... I thought you might want to know that the Slytherins—"

"Stop it. What's your real intention behind this?" The shrewd gaze of his eyes made Hermione feel far more uncomfortable than she did during lessons whenever teachers were asking her various tricky questions.

"I—uh... Actually..." She took another deep breath and closed her eyes before blurting out, "I want to join you guys! I want to be your friend! I realized that what I've been doing so far was very wrong, and I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry!"

Dead silence fell upon the common room. Even the sixth years stared at them now, surprised by her overly loud last line and giggling quietly at Hermione's tirade.

After what seemed like eternity to the girl, Harry finally uttered slowly,

"Fair enough... I think we could let you join us, but there is a condition."

"Uh? What kind of condition?" She asked quickly, opening her left eye and looking at the boy cautiously and curiously at the same time.

"I'm going to prank Greengrass now for stalking me. You must help me to arrange that—"

"I will!"

"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, Granger. We're not friends yet."

"I—I'm sorry—!"

"Not only you will help me to plan this through, but you will also serve as our decoy for this. In other words, you'll be staying on guard, distracting everyone including teachers from whatever we'll be doing if necessary, and no matter what happens to the guys and myself—should a teacher or a prefect catch them or whatever—you will deliberately tell everyone that it's your and only your fault. Do you agree?"

She swallowed heavily, nodding vigorously the next second.

"Y-Yes. I will do it," she said quietly.

The four boys looked at each other before similar grins appeared on their faces.

"Very well then. Let's go for a walk."

* * *

Daphne stared at the small, creased piece of parchment in disbelief, shock and anticipation at the same time, reading the inaccurately written laconic lines for the fifth time in a row while her friend clasped her hands and yelped,

"No! You can't be serious! This is absolutely insane!"

The blonde girl shrugged distantly, touching the parchment with her slender fingers and smiling warmly as her eyes ran through it once again.

_If you want to find out who attacked Nott back then, come to the abandoned Charms classroom on the second floor at midnight. Don't worry if Nott and his bunch follows you, I'll take care of them._

"Whatever or whoever it is, Theo is going to follow me if I go there, that's for sure. And even if it's a trap—which it probably is—I will make sure to stay behind him and to let him take all the damage. After all, isn't it his duty to protect his future wife, don't you think so?"

Tracey shook her head, covering her rapidly paling face with her hands as she was walking across their bedroom back and forth.

"This is madness. We're going to lose all the points we have. And that's the best case scenario! We might also get hurt!"

"Well, you could just stay here and wait for my return," Daphne shrugged again. As much as she wanted Tracey to do exactly that, she knew precisely what reaction to expect from her friend to such a taunt.

"Oh yeah, and to leave you alone in this crazy adventure that's possibly going to kill you? Not a chance!" blurted out the second girl, crossing her hands. "But who could it possibly be? Surely not one of us Slytherins, because it would make no sense. But then again... How can this person be so sure that Theo and the guys would follow you? Nobody knows about the contract outside of our House... Or...?"

"No, not as far as I know," Daphne replied immediately, suppressing a smile. Truth to be told, she was pretty sure that certain someone knew about it. There were even two of them, but there was only one person that could possibly be so sure on himself to say that he'd be able to handle Theodore and the other Slytherin boys... As if it was nothing to him.

"Ugh! Why are you smiling so mysteriously? This is bugging me so much! Stop it!" Daphne giggled quietly, hiding the parchment in the sleeve of her shirt.

"I'm simply excited to witness Theo's reaction when I tell him that I'm going to some dangerous meeting this late. And the aftermath of whatever is to come, too. Beside that, there is finally something that might make our days here a bit less boring. Isn't that enough to feel happy?"

Tracey sighed and looked away, unable to hold back a smirk.

"Damn, you're right, I give you this. Aside from being dangerous, this is surely pretty exciting. But still... What exactly is your plan?"

Daphne raised her head to look at her friend as her thin brow cocked in a question,

"My plan...?"

"Yeah, your plan. Let's say that you have managed to convince Theo to escort you there in three hours from now. Don't you think that he will do his best to screw everything up? Especially if this stranger is someone he loathes. "

The blonde frowned. If she was correct in her assumption about the identity of the person who had sent her this message, that wouldn't be a problem. But on the other hand...  
Daphne bit her lip. On the other hand, _he_ was unlikely to consider the fact that not everyone who would follow her to the meeting would need to be 'taken care of', as he called it in that note. Tracey could very easily get hurt, too...

"Actually...," she muttered, frowning at Tracey's expecting gaze, "I was thinking about asking you to stay here. In exchange—!" she raised her hands quickly seeing how her friend's face twisted in anger, "In exchange for telling you the name of the person who wrote this."

Tracey's eyes widened as she opened her mouth in awe.

"What...? Are you actually trying to tell me that you know who it was?"

The blonde smiled warmly and nodded.

"Yes, I'm nearly sure I do. And that's why I want you to stay. I don't think he will show any mercy to Theo and the other boys, and you might indeed get hurt as he wouldn't know the difference between you and them. He doesn't talk to either of us, after all."

The brown haired girl closed her mouth with her palms and gasped.

"Don't tell me that it's actually _him_..."

Daphne looked away, clenching her fists tightly in excitement.

Even if she had to suffer tonight, she knew it would worth it. She had a trump card too, after all.

* * *

"Damn, this is awful, I _hate_ waiting," groaned Ron, leaning against the wall behind him and watching carefully the dark passage that led to the stairs.

"Well, it's better than spending your evening for a detention, after all," mumbled Draco in an accommodating spirit.

"True, but—"

"They are coming. Look here," whispered Neville, touching the bunch of signed dots on the parchment Harry had given them prior to entering the room where he was planning to meet with the Slytherin girl to interrogate her.

"My, look at that... All the morons in one piece. That's going to be quite something." Draco smirked, glancing at Hermione who was standing next to him, looking at the other end of the corridor from behind of the massive statue where the four of them were hiding. "Are you ready, Granger? The first move is yours as we planned, so you better do something spectacular."

"You better worry for yourself. I'll be fine," hissed the girl, gripping her wand tighter as the blond boy grinned leniently.

"Woah, how scary. I like it. Far better then the drag you usually are."

She glared at him darkly before shaking her head and returning her gaze to the previous direction.

"I'm preparing to break a dozen rules at the same time here, so kindly back off."

"Breaking rules can be fun, you know. Especially when it involves fighting Slytherins," said Neville, to which Ron smirked and nodded.

"Well, how can she possibly know? She has yet to try it. Speaking of which...," Ron cleared his throat, pointing at the map again, "Filch is heading in our direction, so we won't have much time to deal with the bastards. Here is what we're going to do. There are Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, Nott and Greengrass herself. Harry said that he had charmed the door so that only Greengrass would be able to open it during the next hour, just to make sure that she enters the room first and that nobody intercepts whatever he's up to. When she gets inside... Granger, you take care of Zabini. I'll handle Crabbe and Neville will fight Goyle. Draco—"

"Nott is mine, yeah, thanks. I'll make sure to beat some crap out of the moron. He's been irritating me for too long," Draco grinned in excitement, twirling his wand in his fingers a bit nervously and trying to look as confident as possible.

As cocky as he was when he was talking to the bookworm they knew as Hermione Granger, the boy was feeling hardly any better than her at the moment, but he couldn't allow his classmates to notice it, no matter the cost. Especially not after his courage had already been questioned a few hours ago, even though it had been done indirectly and by some Slytherins, but still... It was far too important to him to make sure that his friends wouldn't doubt him no matter what.

"They are coming!" yelped Hermione, raising her wand up which made the rest of the Gryffindors give a start too.

They tried not to make any noises as the bunch of their Slytherin peers came to the charmed door, stopping next to it and whispering something to each other — the group of Gryffindors couldn't quite distinguish what were they talking about, but they saw it clearly when Nott suddenly pushed Daphne away from the door and made an attempt to open it — futile, of course, which made Ron and Draco glance at each other and smirk understandingly. Harry's charms always worked perfectly, and it would take far more than just rough physical strength to open it.

"Don't they know how to cast the Unlocking Spell...?" whispered Hermione, to which Draco shook his head and smirked.

"Nah, they are too dumb to learn it."

After every Slytherin boy had tried to pull the heavy locked door, they stood there and discussed something, looking pretty baffled but still not letting the blonde witch to try it for some reason. It was taking far more time than it should have taken according to Ron's plan, so the tension was getting stronger with each passing second as the Gryffindors realized that Filch was closing in on them, threatening to ruin everything any moment.

And then...

Then the Slytherins turned around and started walking away.

"Oh, damn it!" growled Ron, striding forward to stop them somehow, but just as he was about to cast a spell, Draco gripped his wrist and hissed,

"No! Wait. Look there." He pointed at Daphne who suddenly began to slow down, stopping in a few seconds and turning around silently, coming close to the door and reaching out to grab the door handle.

"What in Morgana's name do you think you're doing?!" Nott's dangerous growl echoed across the passage as he turned around and took his wand out, but it was already too late — the rusty door opened with a loud creaky sound, making the girl flinch. Giving the enraged boy one last feared glance, she slipped inside the room, slamming the door behind her back.

Grave silence fell upon the dimly lit corridor. Nott and his bunch had been simply staring at the closed door for a few seconds before the blue eyed boy growled in anger and came close to it, trying to make it open again.

"Merlin's pants, what the hell?! Open up, Daphne!" Theodore hit the wooden door with his foot, wincing in pain the next second and starting jumping on one leg ludicrously.

"It's now or never. Granger, go!"

" _Petrificus Totalus!_ " The flash of Hermione's spell reached Blaze Zabini in a moment, making his hands press to his body as his legs got glued together by an invisible force which led him to falling down helplessly onto the stone floor.

"What the—?" Nott turned around, gripping his wand as he met Draco's gray eyes. "You...?"

"Well done, Granger. I'm most impressed. Now let's teach these mongrels a lesson, guys!"

* * *

"H-Hello...?"murmured Daphne, frowning and striding slowly deeper into the old classroom. There were no sources of light at all — even the windows were closed, so she couldn't see anything as her blue eyes hadn't adapted to the darkness yet. "Are you here?" she added quietly, taking her wand out and looking at it as if she partly expected it to fly out of her grip the next second.

Harry frowned as well, looking at the girl from behind the heavy curtain covered with a few years old layer of dust, and trying to decide what to do.

Everything had gone exactly according to his plan, much to the boy's surprise and amusement. And now that he had his presumptive foe right in front of him, completely defenseless and utterly defeated even though they hadn't even clashed directly yet, he felt a bit lost at the amount of opportunities that were lying in front of him at the moment.

Still, he knew that didn't have much time to decide. Hardly more than thirty minutes to get it over with according to his calculations as the temporary locking rune — one of the few things he had stolen from his dad's commode before going to Hogwarts — was designed to last for exactly one hour, no more, no less.

That's why he moved out slowly, biting his lip and narrowing his eyes at the tiny silhouette of the Slytherin girl. Unlike her, he had grown accustomed to darkness while he had been waiting for her so he could see her face relatively clearly.

Her features were sharp but soft at the same time, as if she had been starving for a while, but it was still the face of a kind person as much as he didn't want to admit it. Her slightly curly blond hair that reached a bit past her shoulder blades looked a bit messy, as if she didn't care all that much about its looks but still tried to keep it well-groomed out of necessity.

But most of all, her eyes... These blue eyes weren't those of a frightened person, no. On the contrary, they radiated excitement, and judging by her expression, she was more intrigued than afraid of whoever she had come to face.

"Harry Potter... Is that you?"

The Boy Who Lived nearly gasped as his green eyes widened. He clenched his fists as his breath and heartbeat hastened.

How could she possibly know it was him? How could she have figured it out...?

Daphne frowned, lowering her hand with the wand as he remained silent, rapidly thinking on what to do.

"I... Well... If it's you—could you please stop—stop hiding? I didn't come here to fight... If it was you who sent me that note, that is..."

He shook his head, gritting his teeth in irritation. He wasn't supposed to lose control in such situations. He still had the upper hand, without a doubt, and there was no chance in hell she could possibly outfight him under the current circumstances. It was his battlefield, not hers. And he was the one to decide on the rules of the game.

"How did you know it was me?" he finally asked, making her flinch and look at his direction, squinting slightly.

"I—Well, it wasn't very hard to figure out..."

"Explain," he demanded gloomily.

The girl's lips curved into a barely notable smile.

"T-There are a few reasons, to be honest... Firstly, it had to be someone from our year, because little to nobody else knows about what—what had happened to Theo. Secondly, Theo himself... He considers you his archenemy and his rival, so I, uh... I thought you might be thinking the same of him. And finally...," she lowered her eyes timidly, "Only you are powerful enough in our year to pull something like this. In that note—the one you sent—you said you would take care of Theo and the others... Well..." She stopped, finally noticing Harry and looking at him as he stepped closer toward her with his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"What makes you think that I'm powerful?" He asked calmly, looking at the girl impassively from behind the glasses.

Her eyes widened a little as if he had asked something indecent, and he knew that he hit the right spot the instant she blushed and looked away again.

"I, well—I've seen you using magic a few times," she mumbled quickly, "I think I told you that back on the train—"

"Stop lying. We hadn't met before that day, and the only time I had used magic in your presence until that moment was when I had disarmed Malfoy so that he wouldn't have wiped the floor with your boyfriend," said Harry harshly.

"I—I'm not lying! And he's not my boyfriend...!"

"Boyfriend, husband, betrothed, whatever. It's none of my concern. And yes, you are indeed lying."

"I'm not!"

"Oh, really?"

"I saw you making that cauldron fall on Lucius Malfoy's head four years ago!"

Now it was Harry's turn to nearly gasp in surprise, staring at her incredulously and curiously at the same time.

"What...? How?" She smiled at him, blushing at little.

"I was there. Me, my sister and my mom, we were having lunch at Leaky Cauldron when you, your family and Draco Malfoy appeared. I felt your magic when you did it to Mr. Malfoy, and I—I remembered it... How it feels..." She lowered her eyes sheepishly, as if ashamed of how it sounded.

"Uh huh," he muttered skeptically, "So you're implying that this is why you were able to recognize my magic whenever I used it in your presence since that moment?"

"Well... Yes..."

Harry smirked triumphantly, deciding that it was the right time to strike again.

"And I take it has totally nothing to do with the fact that you've been stalking me for nearly two months here in the castle?"

She yelped as her face reddened terribly while she stared at the boy who peered at her angrily and a bit mockingly.

"I—I did no such thing! I just—"

"You just what, Greengrass? I'm the son of the greatest Auror of this century. I have eyes everywhere, don't you think that anything can slip unnoticed by me or my friends even if I myself couldn't care less about you. And I know for sure that you've been watching me. Why?"

Daphne lowered her eyes once again, not saying anything for a while which nearly made Harry groan impatiently in frustration, but just as he opened his mouth to say something to her, she finally uttered,

"It's—really hard to explain. Honestly, I—I understand what you might be thinking now, but you're wrong."

"Prove me wrong then!"

She closed her eyes, turning her head away.

"Please...," whispered the young witch pleadingly.

"Oh no, I'm not buying this. I grew up with a little sister, so your girlish tricks won't ever work on me," he snapped, crossing his hands as Daphne opened her eyes and looked at him with uncovered sadness and pain.

"It's no trick... It's just hard for me to talk about it," she said quietly, sounding a bit offended as she came close to one of the multiple dusty desks and sitting on it. "There are a few reasons why I was—why I'm watching you... Sometimes."

He kept looking at her impassively without saying anything, waiting for the girl to continue which she did after letting out a loud sigh.

"You are The Boy Who Lived... And moreover, your power is just amazing from what I saw. Clearly you are destined to do great things... You are already a living legend, and it is your fate to become an even greater legend seeing how smart and powerful you are for your age. And here—here I am...," she sighed quietly, and to Harry it nearly sounded like a sob which made him frown, "My destiny, on the contrary, is the exact opposite. I was born to become a slave... And although I have yet to embrace it to the full extent, I'm already a slave. I have no free will. No future... I belong to Notts and I have to obey their every whim. I'm also nothing special..."

This time he noticed the glimpses of tears that were flowing down her cheeks, and it made the boy feel extremely uncomfortable all of sudden. He hated it when girls cried in his presence, especially when he didn't know how to help it.

"But watching you... To me, it's like reading a book. A book about the life I'll never have. A life where I'm free, strong and have loyal friends, and a loving family, too... I envy you and admire you at the same time, Harry Potter. And... Since I—I'm worthless anyway... I just want to help you in every way I can. That's why I try to keep Theo from crossing your path. And that's also why," she smiled painfully which made Harry's heart clench in pity — something he didn't experience very often to say the least, "That's why I found it so funny—what you wrote in that note. About telling me who had attacked Theo."

Harry gasped in disbelief, quickly connecting the dots in his mind and stepping backwards.

"What...?"

It couldn't be. He was sure that it had to be just some filthy Slytherin trick. There was absolutely no way that...

"I was the one who attacked him for picking on you. I didn't want that incident to grow into an endless cycle of vengeance and the feud between the two of you... You shouldn't waste your time on things like this. On people like him. Or—or me. That's why I—I ventured to—"

"You shouldn't have done that!" he blurted out, not really knowing why he was saying it.

Daphne frowned, looking deep into his eyes.

"But why? It worked exactly as I wanted it to."

"No! Not that. You shouldn't have helped me at all to begin with!"

She smiled sadly, shaking her head and whimpering.

"Well... Maybe you are right. After all... My parents hate your family. And you. I'm supposed to hate you, too. But I guess I can't help it."

Harry winced.

"So I take it your parents are former Death Eaters?"

Daphne shook her head quickly.

"No. No, they aren't. But my father had business with some of them. He sold them some potions and medicine during the war... You could say he's lucky not to be locked in Azkaban at the moment, but on the other hand... All that led to me being what I am. A slave," she said bitterly.

The boy frowned a bit, finally beginning to see the entire picture.

"So your family's wealth and status suffered because of that?"

She nodded, wiping her tears.

"Yes. Our family had been struggling even before it happened, and when it did, we spent everything we had to set dad free, and also got in a lot of debts... To cover them all, father was forced to basically sell me to Notts. Otherwise we all would've been doomed. The Auror that had arrested him was furious about this act of corruption, as he called it... But it worked. And I'm glad that dad doesn't have to spend his whole life in prison with dementors, even though like this."

Harry didn't reply at first, saying carefully after a short pause,

"Well, corruption is a crime, too..."

Her strange gaze made the boy feel a slight shiver. Daphne looked at him quizzically with a mixture of unreadable emotions. She didn't reply instantly either, uttering eventually,

"I suppose it is."

Such a simple reply made the boy feel even more uncomfortable for some reason he couldn't quite grasp yet. It also made him remember that talk with Professor Snape when they had discussed what is good and what's evil as well as the matter of crimes and punishments. Of course, Mr. Greengrass was a criminal. Without a doubt. And the Auror that had caught him had a right to be mad.  
But still... Was this a crime worthy of such a heavy punishment? After all, he was merely a merchant. Sure, he was making illegal deals, and yet...

"If all what he did was really just trading stuff with Death Eaters to survive, I don't think it would be fair for him to be placed to Azkaban, though."

She smiled.

"I'm glad you think so... That's surprising."

He gave her a slightly baffled look.

"Surprising? Why?"

The girl suddenly gasped quietly, looking away again before muttering,

"I shouldn't tell you this..."

"Say it already!" he nearly yelled in annoyance.

The girl covered her face with her hands.

"I—please, don't think that it has something to do with what I told you before. About watching you and all that. It really doesn't, I swear."

"Alright."

She shook her head, whimpering again and sniffling.

"The Auror that caught my dad back then... It was your father, James Potter."

The final realization hit him like a muggle truck. This short and simple sentence demolished his picture of the world completely, crushing every last bit of faith he had in his belief of what was right and what was wrong.

His father... His role model and the kindest, the smartest man in the world... His actions had led Daphne, this silly, little broken girl to becoming a slave. A slave of one of the direst families out there. Yes, Daphne's father was a criminal, and he deserved to be punished. But at what cost? And what had this punishment actually solved? He was just trying to make some money so that his family would live through the war. Was it worthy of the Azkaban sentence? Was it worthy of his daughter becoming someone's toy?  
It was, according to the law. Which could only mean that the law itself, the only thing that could help them distinguish between good and evil, was flawed and corrupted in its very foundation. But if that was the case... Then what was he supposed to do with his life? What path was he supposed to choose in the end...?

_Lawful, criminal... These are just labels, Mr. Potter. Nothing in this world is absolute, and very few things in our lives truly matter. If you are interested in my advise... Always do what you feel is the right thing to do and never pay much attention to what others say or think about you._

Now he finally understood the true meaning of those words of Snape's. As much as he loved his father, Harry realized now that his point of view was only one of many sides of life. It was far more complicated than just blindly following the law and protecting it no matter what...

"Uh... Harry...?" He suddenly felt her soft palm on his hand which made him flinch, snapping out of his thought and meeting her troubled and annoyingly compassionate gaze. "Are you—"

"I'll set you free."

Her eyes widened as he gripped her hand tightly, looking at her vigorously.

"What—?"

... _Always do what you feel is the right thing to do..._

He took his wand out, making the girl gasp and recoil reflectively, but Harry didn't let her go. Instead, he flicked the wand and said,

"I will set you free from that contract with Nott before you turn seventeen. No matter what, I will. You won't have to marry him and you won't die because of that, either. I swear," A thin tongue of brilliant flame came from the wand and wound its way around their locked hands like a red-hot wire, making the girl gasp and yell in fear,

"Harry, no—!" She tried to break the connection, but it was already too late — they had been sentenced by the Unbreakable Vow. " What have you done?!"

"What I felt was the right thing to do," said the boy simply, letting go of her hand and flinching as she hugged him tightly, sobbing on his shoulder and barely standing on her shaking legs.

"Why... Why did you do that...? How could you...?"

He felt a bit awkward despite the apparent meaningfulness of the moment as he put his hands on her thin waist and pushed her away a little, meeting the despaired look of her tear stained reddened eyes.

"It doesn't really matter why. What happened to you is partly my family's fault, and it's also a fault of the Ministry. I'm going to fix it all. I will find a way, you'll see. You said that I'm destined to do great things, didn't you? Well, in this case, if even _I_ can't do it, then this damned world is completely hopeless and doesn't worth a thing. But...," he looked at her thoughtfully, making a pause before continuing, "You will have to do me a little favour in return."

She swallowed, whispering huskily,

"I—I told you, I intend to help you in every way I can, but—"

"No, I don't need your help. What I need is for everything that happened here to remain a secret. Let's just say that I simply pulled a prank on you and the others from your year tonight, and that's all. It wouldn't be any suspicious. Nobody, and I mean absolutely _nobody_ is to find out about this. We won't talk, we won't be meeting at all, and you will stop... _watching_ me for good. To everyone else, we don't even know each other personally, and it will remain as such."

He ignored the apparent hurt in her eyes as she clearly wanted to say something, but simply nodded instead.

"I understand... I promise, I will do as you wish." She took her wand out as well, mumbling something indistinguishable quietly, and with a short flick of it her hair turned bright green and the girl smiled at the Gryffindor weakly, wiping tears away again. "Is it good enough?"

He smirked.

"Not really my style, but oh well." He turned away, walking towards the door. "It should already have unlocked by now..."

"Harry..." He looked at her over his shoulder questioningly, wanting to leave the room as soon as possible. He had too many things to think over. "Can I... Can we at least send notes to each other? From time to time... I mean... We are connected now. It would feel really strange not to stay in touch at all..."

He frowned, eyeing her up and down slowly and hemming thoughtfully before saying,

"I'll think about it. Good night, Greengrass."

"Good night... Harry," she whispered as the door closed nosily.

* * *

He could hear their laughs even before the portrait to their common room would open, which made Harry rub his eyes tiredly and return to the reality reluctantly as he walked in to see the four of his classmates sitting in their favorite corner of the room near the fireplace, discussing something really loud and cheerfully.

"Oy, Harry! About time, mate! How did it go?" Ron waved at him, inviting him to join their small celebration of whatever made them so happy — he noticed that the space around them was filled with various sweets, a good half of which had already been eaten.

The Boy Who Lived smirked, putting the mask of carelessness and happiness before they could notice that something was seriously wrong with him.

"Fine, I suppose. As we presumed, it turned out that Nott had damaged himself back then, wanting to frame one of us, but something went wrong with his crappy plan. Typical Slytherin failure, basically. You better tell me how did it go for you guys." He grinned, sitting on the empty chair and crossing his legs, looking at Hermione whose happy smile nearly died out under his piercing gaze.

"Oh, it was brilliant! Granger turned to be, how to put it... Not as bad as we thought," Draco smirked, receiving a glare from the girl who rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Actually, it's more than that. She saved us all from Filch when we ran away after we took down those Slytherin bastards, by locking us in an empty broom closet. It turned that Filch couldn't open it on himself, can you imagine that? So he just went away after waiting for like twenty minutes. By the way," added Neville, handing him the familiar parchment. "We wouldn't have made it without a map. It's awesome, Harry!"

"I know," he smiled warmly, taking the map and pointing his wand at it. "Mischief managed!" The parchment became blank again, and the boy hid it in the pocket is his robe.

"You should tell me how it works! It's absolutely amazing!" Yelped Hermione, making the boy look at her with a note of skepticism.

"Oh? I'm still not completely convinced that we should trust you...," he drawled playfully, watching in amusement as the girl's cheeks reddened in anger and frustration.

"Seriously, though. I think we should, mate. Too bad you haven't seen how she handled Zabini!" said Ron as his eyes widened at the memory.

"Well, I suppose she's not a lost case, after all. She still needs us to teach her some things and manners, but all in all I suppose she's decent," drawled Draco, shrugging and looking away.

Harry smiled, yawning and stretching his limbs. It was truly a day of great revelations... But he didn't really mind it. He decided not to be biased anymore no matter whom he dealt with, be it his parents, Snape, Daphne, Nott... Even Voldemort himself.

"Fine. Welcome abroad, Granger."

The girl's eyes widened, and a genuine, happy smile appeared slowly on her face.  
Harry smiled in return, and then every single one of them laughed happily and carelessly.

He knew that he had made the right choice this time.

* * *

**Only one chapter left for the prologue part now. The time skip is finally at hand! Next chapter: James and Lily's point of view! What's going on in the magical world meanwhile? Voldemort finally makes an appearance!**

**Also please don't forget to leave a review! ;) Even a couple words help me a lot!**


	7. The Last Day of Their Youth

**Chapter 7. The Last Day of Their Youth**

"Holy crap, this job is going to kill me one day, and it's not going to be a murder," murmured James, sipping firewhisky from his glass and glancing at Sirius who was sitting in front of him. "Why do _we_ always have to investigate the hardest cases?" he added whiningly, leaning his head against his hand which immediately rustled his messy hair even more, and staring at the wooden ceiling of the old pub somewhere at the outskirts of London.

"Well, we can't help it, Prongs," his friend sighed, taking his own glass and tasting the burning liquor, smiling blissfully the next second. "You wouldn't want to do some pleb job being the Head of our department, would you? Besides, you can't say that it's not intriguing, and that's to say the least. Although it's also kinda sad," he reasoned, and his face darkened a little bit – probably not enough to notice for most people even among those who knew him personally, but James recognized that look of his the same second.

"Damn... Sorry. I forgot that the two of you used to be close," he looked away shamefully, taking another sip.

"Is fine," said Sirius after a short pause, shrugging. "It's all in the past now. I don't think I have even talked to her throughout the last ten years at, to be honest. If not more than that."

"That's really unfortunate, man," James sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "Feels a bit awkward right now, to be honest. But I, uh... Kinda must ask you. Are you sure that you wanna work on this case? Given all the circumstances–"

"What? Are you kidding?" The blue eyed man smirked joyfully, cheering his friend with his glass. "I'm looking forward to it. It's probably going to be the most interesting investigation we had in ages. Besides, I'd really like to know who killed her. As of now, I have absolutely no clue whatsoever. Do you have any idea?"

"Yeah," said James quietly, looking around and lowering his tone, "I have quite a few versions, but all of them are not solid at all and are based on my intuition alone. Truth to be told, this is totally confusing. I would have understood it if the victim was some relevant Death Eater, like Bella or even Lucius, but _her_... Makes no sense at all. It's as if somebody wants to distract us from something big that is coming soon... Or already happening. Call me paranoid, but I don't think it was just a random murder caused by some maniac for fun."

"Nah, of course it wasn't," Sirius winced, taking a few salty peanuts from the plate in front of him. "She wouldn't have gone to Knockturn Alley alone without a very good reason to it anyway. Frankly speaking, I doubt that she even left her house that often in the last few years. Maybe we should check her latest correspondence first of all, even though it's unlikely that we'll find any clue there – the likes of her always make sure to destroy any clear evidence like this as soon as possible, you know."

"Well, it's not like we have any other choice," murmured his friend thoughtfully, staring into the window perplexedly.

"Harry's not going to like it. I can already see him prying into this, so the two of you need to be very careful," murmured Lily, putting the scroll she'd been reading for the last few minutes away, sitting next to James with a bottle of butterbeer in her left hand.

"Huh? Why is that?" asked Sirius, giving the red haired witch a baffled look.

"Draco Malfoy is his close friend, that's why," she muttered gloomily, rolling her eyes. "Don't tell me you forgot about it."

"Oww," the man drawled, nodding in understanding. "Right. Well, that's shit, what can I say."

"Language, Sirius," sighed Lily tiredly, leaning against her husband's shoulder as he chuckled at her comment.

"Language my arse, we're not at school for Merlin's sake, Lily!" barked Sirius in annoyance, making the woman shake her head and smile.

"Well, you better were, seeing as you are still incapable of speaking properly in a lady's presence."

"Gah! Prongs! Get a hang of your woman for once!"

"Nah, I'm out of it, thank you," James smirked in amusement, hugging his wife's waist. "Stop mocking him, honey. It's really not the best day for it."

"Fine, fine," she snorted, giving Sirius a reassuring grin. "It's not like he is in any real grief, though."

"Alright, now I'm feeling hurt! Thank you! You are so cruel!" Black let out a loud sigh, turning away and gripping his heart pretentiously.

The three of them laughed the next second, clinking the vessels with their drinks.

"Seriously, though, sometimes you are almost beginning to sound like the drag you used to be back when we attended Hogwarts," said Sirius.

"Can't help it," Lily winced slightly. "I have to be like this at school, otherwise Dumbledore will kick me out for sure. I must not show any favouritism towards Harry or his friends, that's why I gotta act like an arse whenever I play the role of their teacher. Not that the job itself is that awful, for I always liked potions and everything related to it as well as cooking, but I hate the hurtful glares he shots at me from time to time," she uttered sadly, lowering her green eyes but smiling gratefully the next second as James rubbed her hand reassuringly and said,

"We don't have any other choice. Dumbledore must not realize that you work undercover no matter what. Not only that would endanger Harry, but we would also lose our only opportunity to spy on him."

"He doesn't really trust me at all, though," she said quietly after a short pause. "He is still displeased by the fact that you keep working for the ministry. Both of you, actually. Ever since you had left the Order he's been pretty cold whenever it comes to our family."

James snorted contemptuously, rolling his eyes.

"Well, it tells a lot about his true motives and personality. Dumbledore never wanted to just get rid of Voldemort and his followers. He wants to change the rules of the game and to control the country by himself. What for would he need the Order otherwise? Its original purpose has been long fulfilled, you know. And I don't care if he's doing it for the greater good or not. He might not realize it himself, but that's exactly how any dictatorship is born. I won't let it happen no matter what."

Lily nodded seriously, moving her eyes to Sirius and saying,

"That's why I have to keep my eye on him and his supporters inside the school. I must not allow him to approach Harry. No matter what happens, I won't let him pull our son into his twisted games."

"Well," said Sirius, rubbing his chin. "At this rate, Harry can very well approach the old man himself. From what you said, it sounds like he's really mad at you, Lily."

"No, he isn't," James shook his head, frowning. "Harry is a very smart boy. Even if he doesn't realize what Lily's true motives are, he wouldn't get mad just because of her being a harsh teacher. Without a doubt, he does realize that it's just a mask. And I told him many times to stay away from Dumbledore anyway, so it's hardly a concern for us. What really bothers me a lot, though, are his friends..."

"What of them?" Sirius smirked, taking the bottle from the table and refilling his glass. "You befriended me yourself in the past, and I'm a Black. Blacks were far worse than Malfoys at the time."

James and Lily exchanged understanding glances before the woman sighed, uttering quietly,

"Please, Sirius, try to keep up. Draco Malfoy is in Gryffindor, and the two of them are also friends with the smartest girl in their year, as well as the son of Frank and Alice. There is also a very keen Weasley hanging out with them. Are you getting it now?"

The eyes of the man widened in the realization in a few seconds as he whistled.

"Merlin's pants, yes, I am... They are going to meddle with the investigation for sure. Blimey..."

"Precisely," Lily nodded. "And although I'm going to watch them closely, what happened today will affect the boy dramatically. And hence it will inevitably affect Harry, too. We are all in trouble."

"Are we, though?" James looked around, as if making sure that nobody was listening to their conversation even though he didn't really have to worry about it – since they weren't dressed in the Auror uniform, nobody payed any attention to the three of them. "Of course, it is really sad and it will certainly complicate some things, but maybe it's exactly what Harry needs at his current level. A challenge. Something to distract him from the hardships of his training and his burden. And also something to help him forge the bonds with his friends, too."

Lily hemmed thoughtfully.

"Well, as cruel as it sounds, what you're saying doesn't lack logic. The five of them are really dedicated to become Aurors when they grow up," the three of them chuckled understandingly, "Who knows, they are really shrewd. Maybe they will truly help us at some point. No... Actually, I believe they definitely will. But we must make sure to guide them in the right direction."

"Or rather you must make sure to. You are their legit babysitter nowadays, after all," Sirius smirked, receiving a light cuff on the nape from the witch.

"Harry is coming home for Christmas soon. He told me that he's also going to bring Draco, although I'm not sure if it will happen now, seeing as... Well, you know. Still, my point is that all of us, including Remus, need to be very careful. Especially if Draco actually comes to our place. We can't let them choose the wrong path now."

"We won't, don't worry. If this Malfoy brat is anything like I was in the past, then these news will only strengthen his resolve. It's remarkable that a Malfoy, of all people, ended up in Gryffindor, though. Lucy must have felt so pissed." He laughed.

Lily giggled and James smirked, covering his face with his palm.

"I know right. I'd pay a lot to see his face when he received the news. And there is also a muggle born Draco is friends with now. Can you imagine"

"Jokes aside, though," Lily's face darkened a little. "That could be one of the reasons for the murder."

James lowered his eyes to give his wife a doubtful glance.

"Are you implying that Lucius could've killed her himself?"

She raised her head to meet his gaze.

"Don't you think it is possible?"

The man shrugged slowly as his fingers were playing with the long strands of her silky hair.

"I don't know. It is certainly not impossible, but he's not so stupid. And it doesn't look like an accidental kill done in the heat of passion. No, I don't think it's him. Sirius?"

"Meh, definitely not him. Still needs to be checked, but I'd say it's very, very unlikely. I'd rather believe that someone is trying to frame him, but even that doesn't seem to be the case to me."

"True," James nodded. "But Lily has a point. The fact that Draco is in Gryffindor could be one of the factors. Many pure blood families do not fancy Malfoys now to say the least, and I think Lucius is only making it worse with his behavior and attitude. Honestly, sometimes it seems to me like the man is completely divorced from reality."

"Indeed," Sirius agreed, taking another peanut from the plate. "I don't think he does realize that their age is long over."

"And is it really over anyway?" James sighed, shaking his head. "Voldemort is still out there, plotting and looking for a way to return. It's only a matter of time now, and who knows what will happen."

"Harry will destroy him," said Lily vigorously all of sudden, making Sirius choke and give her a baffled look. "What?" The woman frowned, meeting his surprised gaze. "Am I supposed to pretend that the prophecy doesn't exist or something? It is my son's destiny to kill that maniac, and I'm fine with it so long as he gets out of it unharmed."

Sirius smirked, taking his glass again.

"Sometimes your wife can be really scary, Prongs. In a good way, though."

James grinned in amusement, kissing Lily's temple.

"Tell me about it. By the way, where is Moony? It's not very much like him to be late, and it's five past nine already," murmured James, glancing at his watch.

"I saw him in the morning," replied Sirius. "He told me that he might be a bit late, but he never elaborated why. He looked happy, though, and I also must let you guys know that he mentioned that he won't be coming alone tonight."

Both Lily and James gasped in surprise and whistled excitedly at the same time.

"Now that sounds like a fun evening!" exclaimed the Head Auror, smirking childishly and winking at his friend who laughed in return.

"Uh huh. Well, hopefully he has finally found himself someone decent. Remus is such a sweet man, and it's so sad how biased most women are just because of his... Disease." Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"We'll see," James nodded, "He deserves some happiness for sure. After all, even Snape has managed to get himself a wife, and we are all around thirty already. It would be unfair for Rem to be beneath him in this aspect."

"Yeah... Snape seems to be a lot more confident nowadays. Who knows, maybe it's exactly because of that woman. And by the way, Harry seems to enjoy his lessons quite a lot," muttered Lily, frowning as if she remembered something really unpleasant.

"Eww... How could you let this happen, Lily? Shame on you!" exclaimed Sirius with fake conviction in his voice and smirked.

"Not like it's a very bad thing. For all I know, Snape is a good teacher. He could fill the gaps I left in Harry's education and also give him a wider view on what he will have to deal with when he grow up." James shrugged, taking a sip from his glass and coughing slightly as the amber liquid burned his throat pleasantly.

"I'm still not comfortable with the fact that he prefers his lessons over mine," Lily sighed sadly, looking down.

"Hey, isn't it intended to be this way? After all, you do push him away on purpose while you guys are at Hogwarts," said Sirius carefully.

"I know, but it's still frustrating. And I still haven't forgiven Snape for trying to let Voldemort kill Harry back then."

"Honey, we've already been through this, let's drop this matter for now, alright?" uttered James, hugging her tighter.

"Fine," she murmured reluctantly, closing her eyes.

"Oh, there they are!" Sirius waved at Remus who appeared at the entrance of the pub, looking around as he and his counterpart who looked notably nervous tried to spot their table.

"Holy shit!" James gasped, making Lily snap her head and open her eyes which widened in awe the same second.

"Wait... Isn't it that rookie Italian girl who got enrolled this summer? She's just twenty one, isn't she? And already pretty famous for her... Talents!"

James nodded and Sirius smirked mischievously, waving to the pair so that they would come to their table.

"Yeah... That Rem. I wasted so much time on flirting with her with no effect, and there he is... Lucky bastard."

"Anyway, I'll go order us some more drinks. Be right back," said James, getting up from the table and heading toward the bar, followed by the troubled gaze of Lily.

It didn't miss her eyes that he took out the familiar small mirror out of the pocket of his jeans.

* * *

"Dad?"

Harry stared into the white crystal he was holding in his hand, or rather at the shard of the mirror that was hidden inside of it. The unexpected call of his father caught him walking out of the library late in the evening, so he was heading towards the common room with his bag full of various books their company needed for various reasons. Going there had become a daily ritual for the five of them, and tonight was his turn to go. However, although usually Harry wasn't lazy at all, his intuition had been telling him rather persistently and for a while by now that it was a bad idea to go this time. Until now, he hadn't found a logical reason to it, that's why he preferred to ignore the annoying gut feeling, but that was exactly why he felt quite worried now as he met the gaze of James who appeared to be quite troubled by something – not a very common situation, that's for sure.

"Hey, Harry. How are you?" His voice was sounding normally, if only a bit tiredly.

"Fine, I guess. We don't have much time to chill nowadays, but other than that I'm good. What about you guys? How's Gwen? And mom? I don't get to talk to her at all inside the castle, you know."

James pursed his lips, frowning at his son.

"We're alright. I wanted to discuss a few important things with you, if you don't mind. Do you have a few minutes right now?"

"Sure." Harry shrugged, coming close to one of the windowsills and sitting on it. "What's up?"

"Is anybody around?"

Harry looked across the broad, dimly lit passage before shaking his head.

"No, I don't think so."

James nodded.

"Very well then. First of all, I'd like to let you know something about your mother, or rather about the reason why she's been so harsh towards you lately." The boy smirked jovially, which made James gave him a slightly baffled look. "What's so funny?"

"You don't need to tell me any details, just say, dad... Does it concern your job somehow?"

The brown eyes of the Auror in the mirror widened in surprise, and then a warm, prideful smile appeared on his face.

"So you have figured it out, huh?"

Harry snorted, and James couldn't help smile as he noticed how similar the gesture was to Lily's typical reaction whenever she felt proud of herself.

"Of course. You don't think I'm dumb, do you? I realized it a few months ago. Speaking of which, you might want to let her know that sometimes her glares towards the Headmaster are too obvious. She needs to be more subtle, but I can't tell her that for obvious reasons."

James' face reddened at his son's words, and he looked away from the mirror for a second before replying, lowering his voice,

"And how do you expect me to tell her that? She's gonna kill me! And you, too!" He was obviously kidding, but at the same time, he had a point.

Harry grinned.

"Well, a lot of things depend on her nowadays as far as I understand. I don't think a witch of her level would let her emotions overwhelm her professionalism. Should be alright."

James winced, grimacing at his son.

"You're beginning to sound like a drag, you know?"

Harry flinched suddenly as he heard someone walking down the stairs at the end of the corridor to the left of him, glancing in that direction before smiling and uttering quietly,

"Can't help it, dad. You are not anywhere close, so mum is my only role model nowadays."

The Auror barely managed to hold back a laughter.

"Is that so? I heard you fancy Snape quite a lot."

Usually it wasn't very easy to make The Boy Who Lived feel embarrassed, but his dad always managed to do it effortlessly, and this time was no exception, which made Harry feel even more ashamed of getting caught off guard.  
He blushed a bit, looking away.

"Not really... He's smart, I can give him that, and he's also very skillful. I wouldn't deny that he has taught me a few important things, too. But other than that... I don't like him that much, to be honest. Still, he's a valuable asset, isn't he? You told me to use the likes of him as much as possible, and that's what I'm trying to do, dad."  
James nodded, clearly satisfied by his son's reply, and smirked.

"Huh, fair enough... Anyway, it's good that you do realize now what your mother is doing. Saves me the trouble of explaining a lot of things to you. But that's not the reason why I decided to contact you tonight."

The boy's expression became serious again the next second, and he nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, I figured as much. So... What happened?"

"Is your friend Draco anywhere around?"

Harry's brow cocked slightly as he gave the man a confused look.

"Malfoy? No, I think he's in the common room right now. What of him anyway?"

James' face darkened as he sighed sadly.

"Oh well, I guess you don't know yet then. Something nasty happened yesterday, so me and Sirius are working on this new case starting from today. You see..."

* * *

Draco hugged his knees tightly, sitting near the window inside the boys' bedroom in Gryffindor Tower and looking distantly at the snowflakes that were swirling right in front of him in a bizarre, wild dance, making the complete darkness of the evening winter sky behind the glass look a bit more welcoming than it actually was to everyone... Everyone but him.

Albeit the boy didn't care at all. Truth to be told, he couldn't even see anything right now, still gripping the unfortunate letter that was now completely sodden, threatening to start falling apart in his grasp any second now, but he didn't notice anything around himself. His body was shaking terribly, but young wizard was still unable to cry.

Of course, he had always known that his life would be anything but simple. He also realized that he wasn't supposed to take anything for granted despite being born into a very rich and influential family. And of course it was at this point obvious to him thanks to his best friend, Harry Potter, that money and power could never grant anyone true happiness.

All that put together made him wish he could've exchanged the life of a Malfoy to the life of anyone his father usually called lowlifes. Because no matter how rich Malfoys were, no matter what privileges his name granted him, Draco had now to face the simple yet absolutely remorseless truth.  
His mother was dead.

She had been killed by some filth at Knockturn Alley just a few hours ago, according to the letter he had received from his father – supposedly by a follower of his parents' former master, Lord Voldermort.

He gritted his teeth, crumpling the parchment and tossing it aside, gripping his head and swaying back and forth desperately.

It was probably fate's punishment for his doubts, he decided then. He was too much of a coward, he always doubted his every choice, unsure if his father would approve them or not. He was too weak to accept another simple truth, one that his mother told him many times all through life, but he had never really believed it, or rather had never understood these words' true meaning until now.

His life was his own and nobody else's. He and only he, Draco, was allowed to decide what to do with it.

The boy winced in the impossible pain, remembering her soft, kind and tender voice that was now repeating these words inside of his head again, and again, and again...

Draco knew that he wouldn't ever hear it again. He was familiar with the concept of death, even though he had never experienced a death of someone he loved before. His mother was the first one... But who would come next?  
At the same time, it also made him realize the third truth, and this one was making him want to get up and do something immediately. To scream, to cry, to train... To fight...

To kill the bloody mongrel that had murdered his beloved mother. To make this monster suffer for all eternity...!

He sniffled quietly.

Said third truth was that everyone was going to die at some point. His dad, his friends, his enemies... And himself, of course. Life was a very short and fragile thing that needed to be treasured above everything else in the world. And what had he been wasting his life on so far?

Silly archaic teachings of pathetic pure bloods that didn't make much sense even to themselves? Idiotic traditions and etiquette thats only purpose was showing off before other prideful morons which were absolutely nobody in reality? Trying to make his father proud of him, to prove himself worthy of his family?

Draco clenched his fists, closing his eyes and raising his head.

The time has come, it was now absolutely clear to him. He could no longer hide behind his cowardice and those lies he'd been fed with since the day he was born.

He was going to make his own decisions from now on. And his first decision would be...

"We'll find the one who did this," the familiar voice echoed across the empty room.

The first tear flowed down Draco's cheek as he lowered his head, beginning to shake again as he heard the sound of soft footsteps closing in on him.

"I promise you. We will," the voice added as young Malfoy felt a warm hand of his friend gripping his shoulder, and then the boy finally sobbed.

"I'll kill this person, whoever it is–do you hear me, Harry? I'll fucking kill this fucker no matter what!"

The grip on his shoulder tightened as the blond began weeping desperately, trembling and finally letting all of his emotions out.

Harry didn't reply right away, but this time Draco refused to doubt himself or his friend, and rightfully so.

"Yeah... You will," said the raven haired boy simply, sitting down next to Draco and staring at the floor of the room.

"We will all help you, Draco," said another voice – one he had used to loathe quite a lot not so long ago, but now it miraculously made his shattered heart feel the small wave of warmth filling it.

The blond turned his head slowly to look at the girl. Hermione knelt down in front of him, and just as he met her tear strained eyes, she took his hand into hers, making the boy flinch slightly at the familiar feeling he failed recognize, but it still made him feel slightly better, and it was more than enough for him to be grateful to Hermione Granger.

"Absolutely, mate. Whoever did this, we'll make sure to–," Neville who was standing next to the door paused for a moment, unsure what words to use in this situation, but Ron came to his aid right away,

"...To help you get your revenge," said the redheaded boy, nodding in agreement. "That's a promise."

To his own surprise, a tiny smile appeared on Draco's face as he looked at his friends who gazed at him compassionately with resolve he wished he had himself.

Although...

Maybe he had it now, at long last?

"I–I realize it now–how important it really is–what we intend to do. We shall become Aurors–no matter what. I–I shouldn't have doubted this idea to begin with."

"Doubting anything is normal. But only until you have made a decision," reasoned Harry, making Neville, Ron and Hermione look at him and frown as Draco nodded quickly a few times.

"Yes... Yes, you're right. And I have made mine. We will definitely make it, all of us. What happened to–to my mother... I'll do everything possible to prevent it from happening to anyone else."

"Damn right!" exclaimed Ron vigorously, clenching the fist of his right hand.

"Exactly. Fighting criminals is the most important thing, after all, isn't it?" said Neville quietly, but his voice was filled with the same resolve they all shared now.

Hermione nodded slowly as well, but her eyes stopped on Harry who didn't visibly react to Longbottom's words, staring outside the window thoughtfully instead.

"I guess it is," he finally muttered in a few seconds, making the girl frown. Still, since she was clearly the only one who had noticed Harry's strange reaction, apparently she decided to drop it for now, turning back to Draco instead – the blond seemed to be getting out of his shocked state, and although all of his friends realized that it would take a while for such a horrible wound in his soul to heal, they could already see that his spirit had started to retaliate the pain, which meant that was going to be fine... Eventually.

The boy himself didn't feel as confident at the moment, of course. Still, he knew that he had no other choice but to get a hang of himself and to get over it as soon as possible.

He raised his head again, stopping his gaze on each of his friends for a while.

Ron... He was a really smart and cunning guy despite his bad marks. Highly underestimated by everyone including his family, he was looking forward to achieving something great. And Draco respected that, but even more so he respected the fact that unlike Slytherins, the redhead wouldn't go over the heads of other people in order to reach his goals. He was noble, and he was a great friend.

Neville... Not the brightest one of them for sure, but still a very kind and caring guy. Until this day, young Malfoy probably secretly envied him more than he did to anyone else, because Longbottom had the quality Draco lacked the most – the unbreakable will and unrivaled courage. Although they were still kids, the blond realized that even now Neville would die for any of his friends with a smile on his face if he would ever have to.

Then there was Hermione... The strange girl all of them used to hate had turned to become the epoxy adhesive that had connected their bunch with an invisible, intangible yet incredible power. It was only a month and a few weeks since the day she had been accepted by them, but Draco already couldn't imagine their daily life without her. And although she could still be annoying, clumsy and laughable sometimes, somehow he knew for sure that she would eventually grow up into the finest witch in their generation.

And finally Harry... The informal leader of their group and also its biggest enigma. Despite having been friends with The Boy Who Lived for years by know, sometimes it seemed to the young Malfoy that he still didn't fully understand the heir to Potters. But at the same time, Draco was perfectly fine with it. He knew that his best friend was destined to become someone great – greater than any of them. Eventually Harry would ascend so high that none of them would be able to reach him. And he knew that the green eyed boy realized it to, yet still...  
He had never failed neither him nor any of people he cared for. He was the best friend Draco could ever wish for, and he knew that no matter what awaited him and Harry in the future, they would never betray each other. Harry always helped him in every possible way... Even now he was the first one to come to support him in his darkest hour. And this coming from someone like him... From the Chosen One... The boy who had made Draco open his eyes, who had showed him the reality of the magical world and who had never asked for anything in return...  
Draco knew for sure that if there was one person in the universe he would sacrifice everything for if needed, that would be Harry Potter.

Wiping his tears off his face, the blond smiled at the four of them which made them reflexively smile in return.

"Thank you..."

* * *

He was waiting.

His whole existence throughout the last ten years could be described with these three simple words, although right now there was finally another meaning to them, much to his amusement. At last there was something to dilute his usual boredom and solitude.

His thin lips curved into a small smile as he was watching at the yard outside the old dirty window.  
The blonde woman who was wearing the long black loose overall entered his domain, walking quickly towards the door of the ancient, seemingly abandoned house in Little Hangleton where he was residing at the moment, although Voldemort wasn't planning to spend much more time here, of course. He hated this place with passion, after all, even though he had conquered it long ago.

Yes, today was very a special day. Special enough for him to take the risk and to show up in England in spite of Dumbledore, Potters and Unspeakables still being after him, without a doubt.

Oh, yes... This was the day he had been looking forward to throughout the last decade. His plan was finally being set in motion... All thanks to his most loyal follower that was now walking up the stairs, preparing for the audience with him.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at the door to the room as he heard the footsteps stop behind it. Even though he was nearly powerless at the moment, they still feared him so much... It was ugly and pathetic, but at the same time it was exactly what he needed, so the warlock couldn't complain.

The door opened, and the aristocratically looking woman entered the room, taking her hood off and kneeling down in front of him.

"My lord..."

He studied her pale face for a while, stopping his gaze on her scarred neck for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Rise."

She did as he told her, avoiding the gaze of his burning red eyes and staying completely silent, clearly waiting for his next command.

"Settle down. You must be very tired now, and there is no need to torture yourself. You have served me well today."

"I–," she blushed a bit, "...Thank you so much, my lord... But I assure you, I'm perfectly fine."

"Very well then," he replied surprisingly genially, keeping studying her appearance. "Have you brought it?"

"Yes...! Yes, of course I did," she said quickly, taking the big golden cup out of the folds of her coat and putting it on the small table next to his chair.

"Hm...," he studied the familiar shiny artifact with his eyes briefly before turning back to her. "Very well. Has anybody spotted you as you were retrieving it?"

"No!" the woman blurted out, shaking her head. "Nobody, my lord, I swear. It went flawlessly, I assure you." She was still afraid to meet his gaze, but even with his current level of power it wasn't necessary for Voldemort to look into her eyes to read his servant's mind like an open book.

It was not a lie.

"I see... I am satisfied, then. Do you think the goblins are likely to notify the ministry of the fact that a dead person entered Gringotts and withdrew something from Blacks' family vault?"

She smirked unwillingly, but he didn't mind it. He was feeling far too amused tonight.

"No. I don't think so, my lord. They are very prideful creatures; surely they wouldn't want to let anyone know that they were fooled by something as trivial as Polyjuice Potion."

He smiled at her response.

"That is true. I hope you did not make the wife of Lucius suffer way too much. Bella wouldn't appreciate it, and I don't want her to feel too sad."

The person with Narcissa's face grinned maniacally.

"No... I killed her swiftly and painlessly, I don't think she has even realized what hit her. Although... I'm so sorry, my lord... But I had to do it the muggle way. I sliced her neck with a knife. Otherwise the Aurors would've felt my magic, it was too dangerous!"

Voldemort shook his head slowly and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"How barbaric... But it was justified, so you are forgiven this time. I want to know about the boy now. Tell me everything you managed to find out."

She nodded hastily as her eyes widened slightly.

"Of course, my lord. The boy... I haven't been in direct contact with him, but I managed to get a lot of information from my daughter who is in his year, as well as from my spy among the teachers. They say that he is very smart, perhaps even genius. My sources also state that his power is immense even by the standards of adults, let alone for someone of his age. Old teachers that remember you, my lord, from your years in Hogwarts, say that he might even surpass you one day."

The Dark Lord chuckled joyfully, playing with the wand in his hand.

"Very interesting... Continue."

The woman swallowed nervously.

"He is also close friends with Malfoy's offspring. And he is actively tutored by Snape. It seems that they are aware that you are still alive, my lord... I believe that they are preparing the boy to face you when you return."

He couldn't hold back a laughter this time, feeling even more pleased now.

"That is just splendid... If he is at least half as good as you're saying, then everything is going exactly according to my plan."

She smiled happily, looking at him with her eyes shining with adoration and limitless, fanatic loyalty.

"Are you planning to use the part of your soul inside of him to take over his body?"

He looked at her skeptically, shaking his head slowly again at her suggestion.

"As smart as you are, sometimes it is amazing how short sighted and naive you an be."

She gave him a confused, slightly frightened look, as if expecting him to curse her the next second.

"My lord...?"

He sighed, looking at her as if she was but a delinquent child he was about to lecture.

"Thanks to my power that I had transferred into his body just before my previous one was destroyed, the boy will grow up into a perfect tool for me. Mind you, he is only so powerful because I have given him everything I had. And would you honestly believe that I did it just to wait for him to grow up so that I could possess his body? What do you think I would need that for?"

She lowered her eyes shamefully.

"I–I'm sorry, my lord–"

"You need to think wider, my dear. He shall come to me one day. And then he will become my right hand and my most valuable weapon. This way, we will be able to crush all of our enemies with their own beloved beacon of hope. Their saviour will become their doom, and it will be the ultimate testament to our supremacy."

The witch frowned, still afraid to look at him again.

"But... Forgive me for asking, my lord, but... How are you going to get your power back, then?"

He chuckled devilishly, making the woman flinch in fear as he hissed,

"All in due time, my friend. For now, we must proceed with our original plan. Everything has been going accordingly so far, after all. For now, we are leaving this country. Since you have brought this," he nodded at the horcrux on the table, "This is the last one, so there is nothing else for us to do here in the next few years. We have more important things to do and places to attend."

She bowed down, and just as she did so, the effect of Polijuice Potion started to weaken, revealing the long and curly dark brown hair and bright blue eyes of someone who looked just a bit younger than late Narcissa Malfoy.

"As you wish, my lord."


	8. A Part Time Job

**Chapter 8. A Part Time Job**

The night got off to a nasty start.

It was barely even dark outside the stuffy apartment when he woke up, and he just laid there, watching apathetically as the final gleams of warm daylight were fading away from the cracks in the old dusty curtain, thinking about about nothing in particular and trying to wake up completely. This was supposed to be the last night of his 'shift' this year and there was still absolutely nothing to show for it, which made him feel quite depressed and tired. This night would probably not change things any significantly either, of course.

It was pretty hot in the old apartment; the fans gave off hardly any cool at all, making it even harder for him to force himself to get up. The only thing the young wizard really liked about summer nowadays was that it got dark later than it did during winter, so he had to always make haste and hence it didn't leave him any opportunity to space out or to lazy around at work. Because if he did, he would most likely have been facing a lot of trouble nowadays, and the 'part-time job' he had agreed to slightly more than a year ago would've become a big embarrassment instead of just being plain boring and disappointing like it was now.

On the other hand, if he got fired due to slacking, he would likely be spending the time of his summer holidays the same way most of his peers did. Probably would also have traveled to some warm country, preferably to a faraway island in a warm foreign ocean. He'd like to get a break from hearing his native language everywhere... To feel like he wasn't himself for once. Like a completely different person.

Stupid dreams, of course.

It was still way too soon for him to be thinking of retiring from the job he had virtually just received, especially given that he was only sixteen and everything was still lying ahead... Or at least they told him so.

He hasn't earned anything yet anyway.

The soft ringing of the old hand made crystal on the nightstand made him flinch slightly, slowly shifting his head to the side and wincing at the brightly shining white object – it was trilling in that loathsome, nagging way he had set up for this certain person.  
He grabbed the crystal and looked into the shard of mirror in its core – quietly, without saying a word.

"Harry, answer."

He didn't, silently gazing at the woman through his half closed eyelids instead. Tonks' voice was brisk and focused, but already evidently tired. She clearly hadn't slept all day long, perhaps even longer than that.

"Harry, shall I put you through to the boss?"

"No, don't do that," he growled irritatedly.

"That's my boy. Are you awake already?"

"What do you think?"

"Good. Well, it's the same again for you tonight."

He sighed quietly, blinking a few times and yawning contagiously.

"Nothing new at all? It's my last time this year, you know."

"No, not a thing. Tough luck, huh. Have you prepared to go back home? "

"Yeah. Sort of." He looked around, critically eyeing the complete mess in the room where his clothes were scattered chaotically all over the place.

"Okay. Good luck."

Her last line sounded feeble and unconvincing. Tonks apparently didn't have any faith in him. No wonder, because he didn't have it himself either.

"Thanks," the teen replied neutrally and put the crystal away. He then got up and made the trip to the toilet and to the bathroom. As he was just about to spread toothpaste on the cheap muggle made brush, Harry realized that he was getting ahead of himself, so he cursed quietly and put it back down on the edge of the rusty sink, walking out and heading to the kitchen.

It was completely dark in there, but he didn't bother turning on the light. He opened the door of the refrigerator, covering the small bulb with his hand the next moment — even this tiny source of light made him wince in displease. The consequences of the night life were sure hitting the young man hard.

The wizard looked at the familiar small earthen vial (the only remaining one) before taking it to his lips and gulping vigorously.

He coughed, putting the vial back before hugging his sides and slowly falling on his knees. The taste was especially disgusting tonight, that's for sure. Even though there was no specific organic sample in the Polyjuice Potion, he still hated this feeling so much...

Harry lowered onto the floor completely, sitting on its cold surface and grabbing his head in attempt to focus on the required transformation.

There was a good reason why he didn't need a piece of some other person in the potion for it change his appearance. As they had discovered last year when his sister Gwen had pranked him into temporary losing his hair, he possessed the weak latent Metamorphmagus ability, and although Harry couldn't do much with it other than regrowing his hair, slightly changing the tone of his suntan on a whim or doing some other minor stuff, with Polyjuice as the catalyst he could utilize the ability nearly to the same extent as Tonks who had been his tutor back when he was mastering it.

If he had anything to say about it, though, he'd rather not use it at all. It consumed way too much power for his liking, and that was all in all a very unpleasant process. On the other hand, he never complained about it as he understood that there was just no other choice nowadays because if anybody saw Harry Potter, an underage wizard, doing things he did at work... It would be troublesome to explain to say the least.

Looking at the foreign palms which were slightly bigger and significantly more calloused than his own, he got up from the floor and took a glance at the dirty mirror on the wall next to him.

Now he looked like some defined black guy with short hair and formerly broken nose, a foot taller than he was in his natural form which made the t-shirt he was wearing crack on his back. He took as a reference someone he had seen in the United States back when he had traveled there with his father three years ago for some fishy business regarding his training.

The vicarious face in the reflection smirked in amusement. _Splendid_. Now he was completely impossible to recognize.

Harry sighed tiredly then, shaking his new head and blinking a few times, rubbing his eyes. Fortunately this hell would finally end tomorrow... at long last.

Just as he thought about it, the crystal rang again, this time far more demandingly, to his surprise.

Cursing quietly, Harry returned to the bedroom and grabbed the small shiny thing from the sheet, looking at it again with uncovered annoyance this time, but his expression changed to a surprised one the next moment when he met the familiar gray eyes.

"Hey, Harry. It's been a while," the soft voice he wasn't very fond of uttered casually. She didn't look surprised at all – her mirror was most likely charmed to see through the potion's effect, so she was probably seeing his usual face right now.

"Yeah... Morning, Jay," he said sullenly in an alien voice.

"You forgot to add 'glad to serve, your honor' to that. And it's evening at the moment," she added, annoyingly pedantic as always.

"I'm not glad. And there's nothing to be done about it... your honor."

The young woman smiled politely while the wizard frowned, once again noticing how much her features resembled his father's and his own.

Just like Harry and James, despite being a part of nobility, she didn't wear any expensive clothes or jewelry, and her skin wasn't pale contrary to that of most purebloods. Her black hair barely reached her shoulders and was tied with a pink scrunchy in a funny short ponytail on her nape which made her look more like a muggle teenager rather than an adult witch, not to mention that it made her look absolutely ridiculous given her current position in the ministry. However, due to her pretty immature looks, it was really hard for someone who didn't know this woman to determine her age. She could be anything within the range between sixteen and twenty six. The only thing that gave her away was her overly huge chest – none of the girls at Hogwarts had similar size aside from maybe Lavander Brown, and even that was questionable.  
Not to mention that it was certainly not to Harry's taste at all.

She paused for a moment, studying his face thoughtfully before meeting his gaze again with a cold stare.

"That's unfortunate...," she muttered slowly. "In any case, I'm calling you on behalf of the Unspeakables to let you know that you've been granted the permission to use lethal magic should it become necessary this night."

Harry narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh... Really? Too bad I can't use it on certain someone through this mirror then," he grumbled quietly, grinning at her gloomy and always slightly suspicious face, but at the same time trying not to show her that she had taken him by surprise with the permission.

If he was allowed to kill, they had to be dead sure that something was going to happen to him this night. The job of their prophets? Or were they setting something up...? One could never know for sure when it came to Unspeakables.

She sighed, shaking her head at him.

"Harry, I really would like you to take this situation we have on our hands and especially your role in it a bit more seriously. I'm aware of the fact that this is the final day of your work, but I expect you to report back to James in the morning in any case. And... good luck. It is very important for you to succeed. Both to you and the family."

"Since when do you care about the family?" he asked skeptically, but her face had already disappeared before he finished the sentence.

He didn't exactly feel ashamed by his venomous last line, but on the other hand he wasn't feeling quite so irritated anymore either which was a relief. Putting the crystal in the pocket of the white hoodie he had picked up from the floor a moment ago, he opened the cupboard in the hallway, and wondered for a while what else he ought to pack. He had a few pieces of equipment Aurors had given him last week. Nothing special, just the usual stuff for rookies – clearly not meant for those of his caliber power wise, which was why Harry decided not to take anything with him at the end of the day aside from the crystal, his wand and the invisibility cloak – his father's present could be extremely handy when it came down to this kind of job. He preferred going out light, after all, and he didn't fear anything.

Only boredom was his implacable enemy.

Before he went out Harry took a long and careful look at the window, scanning every inch of the court under his window with his eyes. It seemed that nobody was there, so it was probably safe for him to depart.

And so one more night of his hopeless hunt had begun.

He walked around London for about three hours, trying to avoid annoying and noisy people, switching aimlessly from lane to lane without any specific plan, sometimes dozing, letting his conscious mind take a break and his senses roam free. There was nothing going down. Well, he did witness a few relatively interesting things, but they were all ordinary incidents, tame beginners' stuff. And although technically he was still a beginner himself, he decided that adult Aurors were supposed to take care of those, and it wasn't any of his business if they weren't there to do that. He was a special case, after all.

Officially Harry's mission was to find any clue that would help Aurors to find the infamous serial murderer (or a group of them) that had been taking down different wizards, mostly muggleborns, for nearly five years by now, starting with Narcissa Malfoy back in Harry's first year. All the seventeen cases happened in England, and although they could seem to be random and harldy connected between each other, the investigation done by James, Sirius, Remus and Lily had shown that there was at least some connection between all of them.

For instance, all the victims were killed by non magical means.

Sometimes it was a knife, sometimes a muggle gun, or they were simply found beaten up to death, but there was no doubt that the murderer was at the very least aware of magic's existence given that he (or they) was targeting only wizards, specifically. And all those wizards were out of Voldemort's favour, be they just muggleborn or related to those the Dark Lord was likely to consider traitors.

Other than that, Aurors had nearly no clues at all, which made Harry's work seem to be absolutely futile, at least to himself. But his father believed in him for some reason, and he was going to become a full time Auror after graduating from Hogwarts, so there was no other choice but to follow the orders he received.

It wasn't until about 2 A.M. when the streets of the town got significantly less crowded, which made the situation change dramatically for the teen.

He was sitting on the bench just a hundred yards away from Leaky Cauldron with his eyes closed, enjoying the light breeze and the warm atmosphere of late summer as well as various odors of bakery, flowers and melting asphalt which were flowing around him, trying to sense anything familiar around, and, which was completely unexpected, succeeding shortly.

Harry turned his head to the left, watching the four wizards, two men and two women, closing in on him. They weren't paying any attention to him, naturally. He was dressed like a muggle, and he had learned to conceal his naturally very powerful magic long ago, so that was to be expected.  
Still, the four of them made him flinch in surprise as he recognized them nearly instantly as they walked under the dim street light. Contrary to their obvious disinterest in him, he was wondering quite a lot what they were up to.

There was the tall man with short goatee dressed in tight black clothes that were covered with a very expensive crimson mantle with onyx black decor lines, as well as fashionable dragon skin boots. Having the heavy walking stick with silver knob in his grasp and seemingly ignoring everything around, he looked a lot like his son who was following him a few yards behind, wearing a significantly more humble black robe similar to the ones they had at Hogwarts, if only a lot more tight, neat and rich looking.  
The man's wife was right next to him – Harry had never seen her in person before, but he was sure on her identity nonetheless as he remembered her face clearly from his father's archives. And although he didn't like her looks all that much, he had to admit that she was pretty appealing as her long, brilliant black hair was matching the colour of her delicate dress and her golden coloured mantle just perfectly.

And finally...

Young Potter's temporarily brown eyes stopped on the young blonde witch that was walking alongside the pair's son who was her and Harry's peer, her hand in his. The bright blue eyes, seemingly devoid of any emotion the same way they were at Hogwarts whenever she was in public, were hard not to recognize. She wasn't paying any attention to the muggle Harry was at the moment as she was carefully listening to the other teen's quiet yet visibly pompous jabbering while the four of them were passing by the black haired teen.

Although looking a bit unhealthy these days, she was still beautiful, without a doubt. Harry hadn't seen her in two months, and although it was probably not that long, somehow she seemed to had changed. She looked better and worse than she had appeared back in June at the same time – probably for the one and same reason which was walking right next to her now.

Her features became a bit sharper than before as she had apparently lost a few pounds of weight, being on the brink of becoming slender now. Her skin was paler than usual, which added more to the image of a typical pure blooded Slytherin witch – most likely because she had spent the entire summer indoors. At the same time, her chest seemed to had grown a little bit, nearly reaching C cup now, as well as her slightly curly light blonde hair which almost reached her thin waist, and she also had become a couple inches taller than he remembered. Or had she...?

He eyed her up and down and smiled.

No, she was just wearing high heels. Well, that was new. But that snowy white mantle looked really good on her, he couldn't deny it, as well as the modest silver dress that was nicely narrowing all the necessary curves of her body.

Harry couldn't hold back a smirk as Nott Jr. passed him by alongside his betrothed. And knowing his Slytherin classmate as good as he did, although Harry did it inadvertently, he had known it worked as a taunt even before the predictable response came.

"Is there something funny, you filth?" Harry leaned lazily against the back of the bench, meeting the cold glare of the dark blue eyes and smirking peacefully. With his appearance changed so much, he was supposed to look a good decade older than Theo and his counterpart, so there was no way a muggle man would take someone like him and his words any serious... at least at this point.

"Nah, just admiring your chick's booty, bruh. No offense, alright?" he said in an American accent, enjoying the typical cute blush on Daphne's face as they stopped, making Theo's parents turn around as well.

"Theodore, what's going on?"

"This mudblood has just offended Daphne!"

Harry sighed inwardly, suppressing the desire to shake his head and cocking his eyebrow, pretending not to understand a thing.

"Mudblood, y'say...? Hic–what did ya just call me, dog? You racist or somethin'?" He barked angrily, slightly raising up. Actually as ridiculous as it was, the situation was also becoming a bit troublesome. If any of them discovered his true identity, that would put his whole mission under a huge risk if not fail it completely.

On the other hand... Perhaps they were actually the key to his success this night? What if they could lead him to a clue?

Either way, provoking them any further was not an option. If anything, he needed to calm them down and avoid the upcoming conflict so that he would be able to follow them under the cloak.

"I'm sorry for my son's pitiful behavior and manners. Clearly we haven't taught him well enough, mister...?" Nott's father came close, offering his left hand politely while his wife stared at Harry with uncovered disgust.

Harry ignored her glare and smirked, shaking the man's hand.

"Pete. Is cool, man. Kids can be a pain in an ass, I know for sure," he glanced at the older Nott's arm, stopping his eyes on the wrist for a moment. "Yo, that's some tatoo you got there! Does it have any real meaning?" he nodded casually at the Dark Mark before raising his head to look at the man's face amusedly – the expression of his darkened notably. Would Nott Sr. be idiotic enough to use any charms against him now? That would be a wonderful opportunity to put the man in jail... Maybe even his son, too.

"It's a memento," finally said the older wizard, turning away and walking back toward his wife. "Let's go."

Meeting his classmate's angered gaze one last time, Harry chuckled jovially, but then he nearly coughed when his eyes slid to the girl who didn't follow the three of them right away – she just stared at the polymorphed wizard in fear and a mixture of other emotions, unable to look away for a second.

"Daphne, what's wrong?" Nott Jr. turned around, frowning at the blonde who now seemed to be downright scared.

"N-nothing at all... I'm sorry. I'm just not used to having mudbloods around," she muttered quietly, rushing towards Notts as they walked down the street without looking back.

"Oh, shit." Harry sighed at the belated realization in a few seconds, covering his face with his palm and rubbing it tiredly.

She had recognized him, of course. Daphne was able to sense his magic since their childhood, and he didn't bother to hide it _that_ well anyway. After all, what was the probability of him stumbling upon her, of all people, in the muggle part of a spacious city like London, especially so deep at night?

If he followed them now, even under the cloak, she would still sense his presence without a doubt. What would she do in this case? Give him away directly? Or just panic and make the situation even more confusing and complicated?

Still, he didn't have that many options. Notts were clearly heading towards Leaky Cauldron. Perhaps he would be able to trace them from there...

He entered the familiar old pub in a minute. It was completely empty by now, but Tom, the owner, was still at the bar, cleaning a wooden cup and apparently spacing out as he flinched at the light tingling of the bell at the entrance.

"Uh... Welcome, sir! Would you like to–"

"Quiet, Tom. I'm here on behalf of Aurors." Harry took a small certificate from his pocket, showing him the shining magical rune on it. "Have Notts just been here?"

The old man's eyes widened worriedly as he nodded quickly.

"Yes, they have, sir!"

"Where did they go?"

He glanced in the direction that led toward the back door before looking away, resuming to cleaning the cup.

"How would I know, sir? They went to Diagon Alley, I can tell you this much, but they didn't feel like telling me what their destination was."

"Are you sure?" Harry quickly took a few golden coins out of his pocket and put it on the desk in front of Tom, making the old man gasp and smirk busily the next moment.

"Oh well, sir... I'm just an old man, mind you, and my ears fail me sometimes these days, oh, my ears... But I believe I heard that beautiful woman mentioning Knockturn Alley... Yes, certainly... Something like, uh... I think she said she didn't fancy that place at all. And I also believe that her noble husband told her that they wouldn't be walking around for too long."

"So I presume their destination is somewhere close to the entrance. Thanks, Tom!" Harry smirked, winking at the man and rushing towards the hidden back door of the pub, but stopping the next second, turning his head and scratching his chin thoughtfully.

There was a far better way to catch up with them now, the one Daphne wouldn't expect in case if she was staying on guard and trying to sense him in Diagon Alley. And this way, he was sure he'd be able to tail them without getting spotted... Especially with the cloak.

Piece of cake.

He took the weightless tissue out of his pocket, draping it over his shoulders and turning to Tom once again.

"You haven't seen me, got it? Not tonight, not ever."

The old man began nodding quickly, smiling softly.

"Of course, sir! Of course..."

Harry stormed toward the fireplace, grabbing a handful of Floo on his way and putting the cowl of his cloak on.

"Borgin and Burks!"

As expected, the creepy store was completely empty at this time of the night, so the teen decided to run as fast as he could to catch up with Notts at the entrance of Knockturn Alley after demolishing the lock on the entrance door with a light motion of his hand, breaking the charms that protected the store as well.  
According to his calculations, Daphne and Notts were just about to enter the area, so he rushed outside and ran across the nearly empty dark lane toward the required turn where his supposed targets were to appear any moment now, and just as he turned to the right and jumped down the ancient stone stair, he nearly gasped, barely managing to land without making a noise.

Just as planned. They were there, walking significantly slower than they had been in the non-magical part of the district and staying silent now which was making the task of following them a bit harder since he was afraid of them hearing him.

Still, Harry grinned triumphantly after briefly studying their faces. Daphne didn't react to him at all, at least visibly – there probably was a chance that she wasn't trying to sense his presence at the moment, so he decided to take the risk and follow them. There was hardly anything to fear, really; the worst possible outcome would be a direct confrontation with Notts, and that was something he sure wouldn't mind after two months of doing nothing interesting or useful at all.

Especially with the permission he had...

Sneaking a few yards behind their backs, he followed the four wizards through Knockturn Alley to some inconspicuous semibasement of a very old and abandoned three floored house. Its windows were all boarded up, but the small door that led to the building's underground part appeared to be anything but unused – the clean, polished and shiny door handle was more than ample proof to that.

Trying desperately not to give away his presence, the sixteen years old wizard came dangerously close to Notts and Daphne, stopping right next to the girl and raising his hand in preparation to attack them should they notice him by any chance.

"Merlin... Did they have to make it so complicated to get there? Why not just host it at some decent place? Malfoy Manor, for instance...," the older woman sighed, crossing her eyes and wincing slightly as her husband was looking for something on the door – probably a hidden sign or some other way to open it.

Harry grinned at the man's evidently annoyed expression, knowing approximately what he was about to say on the matter.

"That would be impossible, Agnes, and you know it. Malfoy Manor is currently under young Draco's control, for Lucius has made his son the head of their family after Narcissa's death."

"So what?" She shrugged indifferently. "It's not like the boy is any better than his father. He should be easy to manipulate, so why don't we do it yet?"

"Oh, that he is...," the man smiled wickedly. "And he is currently manipulated by Potters, so he is our of our reach... For now, at least."

The Boy Who Lived narrowed his eyes at the family, clenching his fists and trying to to breathe steadily.

What a bunch of naive fools... Was that what they honestly believed? They were tremendously delusional in this case. But he couldn't complain, of course, although it was a bit irritating to him, much like Daphne's presence... no, that one was actually more exciting than irritating for some reason. And somehow... somehow it also made him feel sick, seeing Theo being so possessive around her... And especially her clearly not minding it at all.

"Potters... Damn them," suddenly barked Theodore, looking at the dusty ground under his feet and kicking an empty tin can which made a loud rattling sound echo across the space around them.

The woman gazed at the teen skeptically while Daphne looked away, as if guiltily, which nearly made Harry slap his face and shake his head.

_Don't make it so obvious, silly..._

"Is there any specific reason why your father mentioning those people made you upset, my dear?"

Theo snorted, rolling his eyes.

"No... Not at all. It's just that their older offspring is my rival at Hogwarts. Always prying into my business and cheating in studies to beat me when it comes to marks. Nothing special about him, just another mudblood loving filth. Same with the rest of his family, I suppose."

Harry smirked, covering his mouth not to giggle at the sudden outburst, and especially at Daphne's reaction to it – the girl blushed slightly and clenched her fists, frowning at her betrothed.

Well, knowing Theo, that wasn't any surprising. After all, he was blatantly lying regarding the real situation between the two of them. Whereas it was true that Harry always cheated as much as possible in order not to waste more than necessary time on stupid and useless subjects and tasks at school, Theo was no match for him, and they could hardly be called rivals with the blue eyed boy being so utterly inferior in basically everything except maybe transfiguration – that was never Harry's strongest side as it required too much accuracy and patience, but contrary to Potions (which was similar to transfiguration in this aspect) he didn't have anyone to tutor him at home in this particular subject.

"It's open now. Get in, quickly. We're about to be late," the older wizard barked, clearly wanting them to drop the unpleasant topic and walking inside first.

His wife followed him, and so did Theo a second later. Daphne was the last one to go through the doorway, and Harry decided to follow her as tightly as possible, but...

Much to his shock and anger, just when he was about to slide inside after the girl, he received a heavy blow in his abdomen – and a very painful one. The heel of Daphne's white shoe pierced his skin even through the cloak, making the teen fall on his butt clumsily, gripping the slightly bleeding wound and raising his head to look at he blonde in disbelief.

How _dare_ she...?

"What was that?" Theo's father turned around, frowning at the girl who gasped loudly, falling on her knee pretentiously.

"Oh... It's nothing, Mr. Nott. I just tripped. I'm not really used to wearing such shoes...," The man snorted contemptuously while Theo grabbed Daphne's hand roughly and pulled her inside.

"The door!" Daphne yelped, pointing in Harry's direction which made the teen frown even more. He didn't let said door close by blocking it with his magic, and the Slytherin witch was fully aware of the way his abilities worked, so it was at this point absolutely obvious that she had recognized him and didn't want him to follow them no matter what, even going so far as to harming him.

But why...?

"Forget about it, it's charmed by someone far more powerful than any of us. We don't have any time to waste, let's go."

Daphne glanced directly at Harry and shook her head quickly before turning around and following the three of wizards into the complete darkness of the hall.  
Harry jumped up, slowly walking in as well with his hand still on the damaged spot on his waist as he was trying to see anything in front of him.

They had been walking across the underground part of the building for what seemed like good three minutes before Mr. Nott finally stopped next to one of the old wooden doors, opening it effortlessly this time.

"Follow me," he commanded, passing through the intangible blueish fog behind the doorway and disappearing right away.

In spite of clearly being aware of his presence, this time Daphne didn't attempt to stop Harry, sighing deeply and going in after Notts instead without turning back.

Harry frowned. Something was seriously off with whatever they were up to, it was obvious at this point. For Daphen to hit him so hard just to prevent him from following them? What a foolish girl. As if she hadn't realized that this would only strengthen his resolve to go and find out what was the deal no matter what.

He got up and jumped into the strange mist, not really surprised at the familiar feeling of the portal spell hooking his insides and pulling him to some other place – not that far away as it was only a matter of a few seconds before he got up from the floor on his slightly shaking legs, and...

His eyes widened a bit.

Those were _his_ shaking legs! He had transformed back! But wasn't it too early for that yet...?  
He held back a curse. Of course, the fog was most likely charmed to cancel any temporary effects like that of Polyjuice.

The wizard walked toward the only door in the empty room, stopping before it and noticing that it was half open. Strangely Daphne and Notts weren't anywhere around despite him following them tightly, which, as he deduced, was most likely due to some complex charms protecting the place from unwanted guests and thus taking those who passed through the fog to different locations.

And as if to confirm his assumption, he saw a masked and hooded man standing in front of him just outside the room, leaning against the opposite wall and watching carefully the place behind Harry's back as he clearly didn't see him through the cloak which was already a big relief to the young wizard.

Feeling his heart beginning to race in excitement, the teen smiled, passing by the man quietly and walking toward the end of the corridor from where he could hear multiple subdued voices coming.

But before he was able to enter the hall, he got pushed inside the small side room – a bathroom, judging by the interior – and got pinned against the cold tiled wall.

"What on earth are you doing here? I told you not to follow!" hissed the blonde girl, staring right into the place where his eyes were supposed to be under the cloak.

Harry whistled quietly, eyeing her up and down.

"Woah... That's impressive. So you can really see me, after all."

"That's not the point!" she hissed again, looking carefully at the door before closing it and turning back to Harry. "Why? Why are you always so stubborn?"

He chuckled.

"Easy, girl. I don't recall you telling me anything of sort. What I do remember, however, is you hitting me really hard with your heel. That was painful, you know!"

"Oh, shut up!" She groaned, clenching her fists and rolling here eyes. "You're a smart boy, you should've been able to understand!"

"I'm a slow learner," he smirked playfully, "And you still haven't explained how is it possible for you to see me through the cloak."

"I don't see you, stupid... I sense you," she sighed, shaking her head at him. "We've already been through this, haven't we?"

"True," he drawled reluctantly, as always feeling that she wasn't telling him the entire truth on the matter but deciding to let it slip for now once again. "So what are you guys doing here? And what's the deal with you being so nice with Theo? Holding hands and so on...," he sneered mockingly.

"Shut the hell up!" she shrieked defensively, crossing her hands. "I'm the one asking questions here!"

"Oh? And since when we're so brave?"

"Since the day I became a woman!"

His smile died out as he stared at her while his expression darkening.

"When?" He finally squeezed out, making her eyes widen at his tone which made her realize how exactly he must have interpreted her words. But then she gave him a mysterious smile – apparently she found his reaction amusing for some odd reason he neither understood nor cared about.

"About sixteen years ago. And what's up with that face?"

It was hard for him not to let out a loud sigh of relief. Instead, he looked away, pulling the cowl of his cloak off and sliding down the wall, finally getting a chance to sit after the long and traumatic chase, even in spite of the floor being cold and dirty.

"I just thought Nott had done something nasty to you, that's all," he murmured, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Uh huh...," she smiled slyly at him, leaning on her shoulder against the same wall. "Well, you don't have to worry about that... yet."

He glared at her darkly.

"Don't fuck with me."

"Why? Don't you find me attractive enough?" she giggled jokingly, making the wizard shake his head and sigh.

"You don't understand the current circumstances. Otherwise you'd have avoided these stupid jokes."

"Oh?" she looked a bit worried now, "Enlighten me, then?"

He didn't reply, taking the same piece of parchment he had shown to Tom at Leaky Cauldron not so long ago instead and handing it to the girl who gasped after studying it for a couple seconds, covering her mouth as she looked at the shining rune in disbelief.

"What the–what's the meaning of this...? Are you–no, it's not possible. You haven't even graduated yet!"

"Anything is possible when you are James Potter's son who just happens to be the most powerful wizard in his generation. Yes, I work for Aurors now. In a special unit, a secret one as hiring underage wizards is kinda illegal. I came here because of my current mission. You guys were overly suspicious, you know. Especially _you_."

It was her turn to give him a grim look, biting her lip nervously.

"It is hard to believe... Even though I trust you, of course. Always. But... If you're already an Auror–and this mission... Does it mean that you're not coming back to Hogwarts the other day?" he smiled at the way her eyes widened at the idea.

She seemed _scared_.

"No, I am coming back, don't worry. It's just a part time job as well as training for me."

"Hm... I see," she lowered her eyes timidly, looking a bit embarrassed. "But Harry, I–this mission of yours–I don't think it has anything to do with what's happening here."

"And _what_ is happening here, exactly? You never told me. Want me to interrogate you?" He smirked at the way she blushed at his suggestion.

"That wouldn't be necessary. It's not that big of a secret, but I thought it could be dangerous for you to show up here all of sudden."

"Dangerous? Why? Is Voldemort around?"

She shook her head before sighing perplexedly, avoiding his eyes as she turned around and sent an anxious glance towards the door.

"No, I don't think so. It's just that... We've been pretty successful at hiding our connection until now. I don't want us to get exposed. Beside that, everyone present here are either former Death Eaters or people related to them. They want pureblood families to meet up and to discuss some common business... That's the extent of my knowledge, at least." She looked back at him.

"Well then..." Harry rubbed the collar of his cloak thoughtfully, distantly staring at the space in front of him. "There is a huge chance that my target is here among these people, then, so it was a right decision to follow you. Although I suppose I could arrest you for trying to stop me there," he smirked jokingly at Daphen who frowned.

"I wasn't aware that you are an Auror... or whatever you are. I was just trying to protect... us," she finished the sentence quietly, as if unsure if it was the right way to put it.

He smiled a bit more warmly than he wanted to.

"Don't worry about it. The Polyjuice effect got canceled, but I can still walk around and listen while being invisible. Let's go," he got up, putting the cowl on again.

"Harry–," she wanted to say something as he gave her a surprised look but shook her head and smiled instead. "I missed you."

"Yeah. Lead me to the snakes' nest now. Oh, and just for your information," he stopped, once again puzzled for a moment by the fact that she was able to look directly into his eyes while he was cloaked, "I have the permission to use lethal magic now. So–"

"No!" Her eyes widened in fear. "Please, don't! Don't kill him!"

He frowned. He was just going to make another joke, but now, getting what she was implying, he couldn't help but feel tempted by the sudden idea.

"Why?" he asked casually, even though that wasn't his intention to begin with. "That's a good opportunity, don't you think so?"

"He–," she bit her lip again, lowering her head and shaking it, "He hasn't done anything yet, Harry. He isn't a good person, mind you, but he doesn't deserve to die either. Remember that both of us are in this together. He suffers as much as I do."

Harry studied her face for a few long seconds. That was typical for Daphne who was still that sheepish and kind girl under the facade she had built up throughout the years since the day they had bound themselves together with the Unbreakable Vow. Always so righteous and fair, defending those who totally didn't deserve any mercy... Some Slytherin she was.

This girl was his complete opposite in so many senses that it made Harry constantly wondering whenever they interacted if he liked her or actually loathed her with passion. In his opinion most people didn't deserve any kindness or mercy at all. Most of them were pitiful beings anyway, wizards or not... Their miserable existence didn't have any valid point, so he couldn't care less about them unless they crossed his interests somehow.

Daphne, though... She was just something else. She was very predictable and naive from his point of view, but at the same time... Whenever he was about to reassure himself that she was just a foolish girl, she always managed to pull something absolutely unexpected to surprise or even shock him completely.  
Much like today...

"I understand," he finally said indifferently, hiding his hands in his pockets. "I was just kidding anyway. I wouldn't abuse my rights." Oh, he would. And by the skeptical look the blonde gave him, she knew that as well.

"Please, be careful and let me know when you'll be leaving this place."

"Won't you be able to see that yourself? I mean sense... Whatever."

"I might be distracted or you might be too far away for me to notice."

"And if you'll be watched?"

"Well, you are invisible, I'm sure you can figure something out."

He grinned devilishly, following her to the door.

"Point taken."

"If you do something indecent, though, I'll probably freak out and you'll get busted, so you better be careful!" she winked at him, opening the door.

The boy's lips curved into an idiotic smile before he went after the girl. Once again, she had managed to catch him by surprise... So naive yet so cunning and shrewd at the same time.

What a witch.

The entered the spacious hall full of various people who were both standing and sitting everywhere around, chatting, eating and drinking. Their faces were hardly distinguishable under the dim light candles that were floating around, but Harry managed to recognize a few of them, so he knew that Daphne hadn't lied. There were mostly people from the families Aurors called 'shady' – and apparently his secret accomplice was now heading towards Notts who were talking to...

Harry frowned, stopping for a second and not believing his own eyes. Percy Weasley? What was _he_ doing there...?

As the soft music that was flowing out of nowhere drowned the sound of his footsteps, The Boy Who Lived walked swiftly toward them, noticing how Theo's arm wrapped around Daphne's waist as she came close to them. She didn't react to the possessive gesture again, to Harry's anger.

How could she be so submissive? How could she not defy him...?!

He couldn't find the answers, so he decided to drop the issue for now. He had more important things to deal with now that he had been granted the opportunity to sneak into the place full of criminals and their associates.

"Don't you think there is at least the slightest chance for us to win the election?" Nott Sr. looked grimly at Percy who seemed to be a little nervous, replying right away as if talking to his boss,

"No, I don't think so, Mr. Nott. It is very clear at this point that my father is going to become the next Minister of Magic. It can't be helped, and the upcoming tournament is only going to make his position even more secure, with Dumbledore supporting him..."

"I see," Nott sighed, taking a sip of red wine. "Very well then, if it can't be helped then we need to get over it and adapt to the situation."

"Yes, I believe that is the best possible option for us right now. There is something else I wanted to suggest, though, if you don't mind."

Harry looked ad Daphne who glanced back at him perplexedly, clearly not really understanding what was there to their conversation while the invisible teen strode forward slowly, walking behind Daphne and Theo's backs and coming closer to their bunch.

Although the successful election campaign of Arthur Weasley was a big surprise to the Magical Britain after Fudge had gotten arrested with the corruption charge back in May thanks to Sirius Black's investigation, a lot of people including some of Arthur's own children believed that the man wasn't suited for such responsible job, which was why Percy being here now made sense to Harry.

"What is it?" asked Nott skeptically, looking at the scrawny young man who smiled nervously.

"Rumors in the ministry say that Potters... Well, Aurors in general don't really support Dumbledore and his followers, and that's to say the lest. Perhaps you could use that fact to build some bridges, so to say."

Theo's father hemmed thoughtfully, playing with his fingers on the glass he was holing.

"Potters, you say... Well, I can't say your suggestion is exactly unwise, although we have never been friends with their brethren. But seeing as Dumbledore is getting more and more power lately... Perhaps things are about to change. Theodore," he looked at his son who raised his head to return him the gloomy gaze. "I want you to befriend Harry Potter."

Harry covered his mouth with his hands as his eyes widened while he was trying to suppress the laughter.

Not only the idea of Death Eaters uniting with the likes of Potters was beyond ridiculous, but the fact that Theo would most likely have to lick his arse throughout the entire next year now... And moreover, Daphne's reaction!  
The girl looked like she was about to faint, afraid to look in Harry's direction and rubbing Theo's wrist reassuringly.

"Is that really necessary, father?" The invisible wizard could give him a credit for taking it so stoically. It was probably the first time when Harry felt somewhat remotely similar to respect for his Slytherin classmate.

"It is. Do your best, son. This is very important to all of us. Dumbledore must not be allowed to get even more power than he possess right now. And the enemy of our enemy is our friend, do not forget. Beside that, I want you to take part in the tournament, son. Make sure to prepare yourself." He turned back to the red haired wizard and nodded. "Thank you for your aid, Mr. Weasley. Working with you is a big pleasure."

_The tournament...?_

"That is mutual, Mr. Nott. I'm looking forward to working alongside you and your people. I don't want Magical Britain to fall apart again."

"Neither do I. Cheers, young man. You are truly a bright wizard."

Deciding that it was enough, Harry stepped towards Daphne who was looking worriedly at Theo who in turn just stared into the space in front of him with an impassive expression. Before the girl could react, The Boy Who Lived pecked her cheek carefully, making her flinch and snap her head as he whispered quietly right into her ear, burning her skin with his breath which made her shiver slightly,

"See ya on the train, _my friends_."

She turned around, but he was already storming towards the exit.

"What is it?" asked Theo distantly, noticing her strange reaction and looking at his betrothed.

"Uh... Nothing... Just my impression," she mumbled, following Harry's back with her eyes worriedly as he left the hall.

Although his primary task was still under a question, he was sure he had received a priceless piece information, one that could even possibly mean the success of his mission as well. Maybe Daphne wasn't actually an idiot, but she was never interested in politics much so even though she would most likely tell him later about what happened at this strange party today, the fact that he had visited this place in person and witnessed everything himself was supposed to be absolutely invaluable for Aurors.

All he had to do now was to get back to the ministry and to give them his memories to study thoroughly with a pensive. To get the face of each and every wizard who was here tonight. To hear through all of their conversations.  
Possibly even to find the murderer they were looking for...

He smiled, passing through the familiar blue fog.

"Good game, Death Eaters," he whispered and grinned as the portal activated once again. "You're done for."

* * *

**So... I'm back after the break I decided to take after finishing the prologue part. The updates will be coming out more frequently from now on. You may expect the pace of approximately one chapter in two weeks. Although fyi it will depend on the amount of reviews I get, so if you want to get the next chapter sooner than later, please leave at least a few words! I appreciate everything ^.^ Thanks and cya soon!**


	9. Mission Failed

**Chapter 9. Mission Failed**

"How... unfortunate," muttered James grimly, staring at the big ancient pensieve on his desk. "And alarming, too. I guess we've been slacking for too long, huh. Yet still...," he bit his writing feather thoughtfully, rocking in his chair slowly, "So much effort, and just to ensure complete secrecy of an event of such large scale... There is something very wrong there, don't you think so?" He raised his eyes to look at the youngest Auror in the department who happened to be his son, Harry Potter.  
The teen looked incredibly embarrassed and, actually, to say so would be a serious understatement.

Truth to be told, Harry'd never been so pissed before. Above anything else he could wish in general, right now, he wanted to go down the drain as soon as possible and for good. And there was a good reason to it; in fact, such utter humiliation made the young wizard so furious that he had to use all of his concentration to prevent his magic from going wild any second now.

Still, gathering the last bits of his willpower, he sighed and deadpanned:

"Yes. Yes, it is very suspicious. And disturbing, too."

James nodded thoughtfully, frowning and looking at the pensieve again.

"And you're saying that you weren't able to recognize the charm... is that correct?"

"Yes," the teen agreed, gritting his teeth. "There was no sign of any strong magic anywhere around. Well, aside from that strange fog. But you've already seen it yourself. That's where the blocked part takes its beginning, though. But I didn't think it was anything but a modified Revelio charm, because it dispelled the effects of Polyjuice and didn't do anything notable aside from that."

The older man chuckled, although there was anything but joy in his voice.

"You still have much to learn, Harry. You may be powerful, but you lack experience and attentiveness. That's why I've appointed you for this job so early to begin with. In this case, your confidence turned out to be your weak spot. You should have made sure to analyze this fog before entering it. Didn't you have your mirror to call me or Unspeakables to ask about it?"

"I understand," whispered the green eyed Auror, unable to bring himself to meet his father's compassionate gaze.

"It is good that you understand, if you really do. Anyway...," he touched the huge stone cup with his fingertips, which made barely notable ripples appear on the cold silver surface of the liquid inside of it. "All is not lost yet. Protean Charm is one of the strongest spells of secrecy out there, if not actually the strongest, but even this one has a weak spot we can abuse."

"Does it?" Harry squeezed out the question automatically, flinching in realization at the man's words in a couple seconds and looking up. "Really?"

"Yeah," James nodded, scratching his chin covered with a few-day stubble. "There isn't much we can do even if it works, but it's better than nothing anyway. You see, Protean Charm makes any memory that is under its protection very limited when it comes to recalling it. None of us can watch anything you've been through this night and, as we've just settled, you can reveal only so much information on the matter to us while you are still under its effect, whilst we have no idea when was it set to expire."

"Then what are we going to do about it?" asked Harry impatiently, crossing his arms. It would be impossible to describe the degree of disappointment and embarrassment he was feeling right now, because, thanks to Daphne, just a few hours ago he was dead sure that he'd uncovered something of immense importance. Something that would set his authority among other Aurors in stone, and for good. The case of the decade, without a doubt.

And now all of his ambitious plans turned in ashes, for he couldn't share any of his memories of that criminal party he'd attended last night. He got outplayed by his own arrogance, and at the moment, he loathed himself for it.

"Oh, not 'we'. _You_ are going to do it. Hold on, she will explain. You may come in!" he added a bit more loudly, turning his head towards the entrance of his office.

The door opened the same second, letting the familiar young woman inside the room. She looked the same as a few hours ago when he'd talked to her through his mirror; she was wearing the standard Unspeakable's uniform that consisted of tight, brown leather pants, a pair of high heeled black boots that reached her knees, a marsh coloured dragon leather jacket that was unbuttoned, revealing a formal white shirt with a dark gray tie. Finally, there was a dark red formal mantle on her shoulders, and a short sword in the scabbard on her hip, looking more like a big dagger due to its rather small size – a standard magical weapon for the likes of her, albeit Harry had no idea what made it special and what was its purpose.

"Hey, Jay," the teen sighed heavily again, forcing out a polite smile which was returned right away.

"Good morning, Harry. James, we're already aware of the situation, so no need in any briefing." She came close to the Head Auror's desk and sat on it, crossing her legs and taking another feather from its case, biting it thoughtfully in the exactly same manner James did, which made the youngest wizard in the room put some effort into suppressing the desire to wince at her. "You've done really well, I must admit. We didn't really hope for you to have any success in this mission, yet still, you have managed to surprise us," she eyed him up and down, as if studying him, which made it very hard for Harry not to roll his eyes. "However, it is still no good unless we find a way to extract your memories which is, according to all the known rules of magic, frankly impossible."

"We're aware of this. Could you please go down to business? We have important stuff to attend soon," said James quietly, and although it sounded perfectly polite, all the three of them realized that the woman wasn't really welcome in the room.

Still, she smiled, pretending not to notice anything, and nodded in agreement, keeping gazing at The Boy Who Lived.

"You're right, let us not waste time on cheap chat. I haven't slept this night yet either, you know. Anyway, Harry, listen up. Exactly as James told you, there are significant limitations on your memories right now, and it's impossible to deduce when will they go down, although it's safe to assume that, given all the other precautions they've taken to conceal their meeting, the date is set a while after their plans would get set in motion. In nutshell, it renders whatever you've seen or heard absolutely useless to us."

"Yeah, thanks, I'm aware of that," he nearly hissed, this time unable to stay calm. But the witch merely smiled at him, continuing:

"However, we can still try to make it work, at least to an extent. Or, to be precise, _you_ can do it."

"Me?" Harry frowned at her as his irritation got replaced with confusion. "How?"

"Well, the spell prevents you from revealing any information as well as from getting the one you are not supposed to have due to not witnessing personally certain events and conversations that took part at that place, but you can still recall those things you _have_ seen and heard, even if you didn't pay attention to them."

His eyes widened at first, but then he snorted.

"We've already tried this. I can't do it with a pensieve."

"And who said anything about a pensieve?" She grinned at him, shaking her head and sighing. "You should learn to listen before replying if you want to stick to this profession. It is indeed impossible to recall these memories by any magical mean. However, non-magical ways should still work."

"What are you implying?" the teen was still not following, too absorbed by his emotions and too exhausted to think straight.

"Meaning that by training your mind intensively in, let's say, Occlumency, you might be able to force the necessary memories to come back as many times as you want. In your dreams, for instance."

Harry moved his eyes to his father who nodded reassuringly, and then he returned his gaze to Jay, biting his lip.

"So, basically, I'm supposed to retrieve whatever I can... from a random dream? And then what? I'd still be unable to share any information with you, wouldn't I?"

She turned her head to met James' eyes for a few seconds, as if silently asking for his permission for something, before turning back to the man's son and smiling again.

"Well, that's where the most troublesome, at least for us, part comes up. If you remember anything important, you will have to act on your own for this exact reason you've just mentioned. In other words, if you find out that someone is a criminal, you'll have to arrest this person on your own. And to find some convincing evidence, too."

His eyes widened in awe and shock as he gasped.

"What? You aren't making any sense. How the hell am I supposed to arrest someone or investigate anything if I'm returning to Hogwarts today?"

"You will have the permission," suddenly said James, "We've discussed it and came to conclude that it is essential for you to keep your rune and hence to remain on duty even at Hogwarts, although I don't like this idea all that much myself. Still, this will not be your only mission while you're at school."

Way too shocked by the news to calm down, Harry stepped forward and asked:

"What's the mission? Is it about testing me out with some stuff I'll never get to finish anyway, again?"

"No, not exactly," said the woman while her annoying smile made Harry want to choke her right away. "And it's not like you'd never get to finish your current task. It is still up, seeing as you are going to retain your powers as an Auror. And that, in turn, means that you have three active missions to work on while you're at school."

"The first mission is to retrieve your memories. It has the highest priority right now as it needs to be done as soon as possible," said James, to which Harry nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I get it."

"The second mission requires a short briefing. See, the Triwizard Tournament is going to be held at Hogwarts this year," he made a pause, expecting some kind of an expressive reaction from his son, but none followed – Harry'd already figured out this part, so he wasn't surprised by this revelation. "You are not to put your name in the Goblet of Fire under any circumstances. But whoever the goblet chooses as the champion of Hogwarts, this person is your job. You need to protect him or her no matter what. There will be tasks of potentially deadly danger level, and beside that, we possess some intel which implies that there might be an attempt to set up a death of some champion in order to worsen the relationships between our countries."

"I see," Harry nodded. "But, does it mean that I have to protect other Champions as well? I mean, if they die at Hogwarts, it won't be any good for said relationships either."

"No, they are none of your concern and neither of ours. They will have protection from their ministries," replied Jay. "Your third mission remains the same. No matter how much time it takes, you are to find the murderer of Narcissa Malfoy as well as his or her other supposed victims. Any questions?"

"Yeah. Can I call you sometime maybe? To hang out together or something," muttered Harry venomously in an attempt to mock her, to which she chuckled, throwing a short glance at James who frowned at his son's behavior.

"I'm afraid James won't approve of this idea, Harry. But you can still call me whenever you feel like discussing anything important." She got up, walking towards the door and winking at the teen as she passed him by, stopping for a second. "Don't disappoint us. We have high hopes for you." She left the room then, shutting the door behind her back and leaving Harry and his father alone.

"Well... do you _really_ have any relevant questions now?" asked the older wizard, to which The Boy Who Lived smirked and shook his head.

"Nah, dad. It's all clear."

"Are you sure you can make it, though? Let's not forget that your training is your primary goal that must not be postponed."

Harry's eyebrow cocked skeptically. As pissed as he'd been just a few minutes ago, now he already didn't feel completely lost and defeated, so his usual insolence and pride were rapidly returning to him.

"Of course. I'd rather die than disappoint you again."

The man sighed heavily, getting up from his desk and draping his mantle over his shoulders before coming to Harry and hugging him with one hand.

"You better don't die no matter what, son. Let's go home now. I took a day off today to say goodbyes to you and Gwen. Your mom has cooked your favourite cake, by the way!"

"Oh, nice! Sure, dad! Let's go!" The teen grinned in amusement, following his old man toward the fireplace.

Maybe this day wasn't necessarily doomed to be so bad, after all.

* * *

A couple hours later, Harry, who hadn't slept since the previous day, yawned sweetly, leaning against the stone column on Platform 9¾ as he watched Lily and James Potter hugging his crying younger sister Gwen and trying to calm her down. The girl, despite the fact that she'd been very happy and excited about going to Hogwarts for the first time in her life just an hour ago, now felt overly stressed as she'd finally realized that she was leaving her home for a few months, which she'd never done before. The fact that she'd probably not get to see her father until Christmas didn't make the situation any better, of course.

Although in Harry's humble opinion, she was overreacting given that he and their mother would be there, at Hogwarts, so it wasn't like she would be cut off from her family completely. Not that he minded this little spectacle, of course. He didn't really care. Girls were a big enigma to him, so the teen was fine with whatever they did unless it crossed his interests in any way which was obviously no the case at the moment. He'd spent more than ample time with his father in the morning, and, well... although he'd missed his mother throughout the last few weeks as he'd been living separately from his family as his part time job required it, however, unlike Gwen, he did realize that they'd have more than ample time to chat at Hogwarts, and he wasn't in any rush.

"Oh, hello. It's been a while, I guess," suddenly muttered the familiar tired voice from his left, making Harry and James turn their heads in the direction of its owner.

Malfoy hadn't changed much during summer, although his hair was a bit longer and slightly wilder (if that was even possible for someone like Draco, but in his case even a few messy strands could be called 'wild') now and he'd also gained some suntan, from what Harry could notice. Beside that, he'd become an inch taller, surpassing Harry himself in this aspect to his displeasure, but it didn't matter all that much at the end of the day, so he just smirked, greeting his best friend with a hug.

"Hey, Draco. How was your summer?" asked James, shaking the blond's hand and grinning while Lily just nodded in a greeting, smiling at the young Malfoy apologetically as she was still whispering something quietly to the still sobbing Gwen.

"Well, it was... eventful," the shortest pause he made was noticed by Harry who frowned at it. Draco had told him exactly the opposite during their conversations via their magical mirrors, so why would he lie to James now? Or had he lied to him instead...? On top of that, the blond looked quite tired, too...

"Harry! Draco!" the brown haired girl nearly knocked The Boy Who Lived down, hugging him so tightly that he found it hard to breath and pecking his cheek quickly before turning her attention to Draco, hugging him as well. "I'm so happy to see you guys, at last! And... Oh, sorry, Professor Potter! And Mr. Potter, of course!"

"Yeah... hey, Hermione," mumbled Harry, readjusting his glasses and rubbing his slightly reddened cheek, gritting his teeth the next second at the very quiet giggle that didn't slip away from his ear. Their mother wasn't able to see Gwen's face right now, so, of course, she never noticed how the girl stuck her tongue out, teasing her brother who clenched his fists and looked away, preferring to ignore the little nuisance.

"Hello, Ms. Granger. It's been a while," James smiled at another friend of his son, greeting her with a nod. "I've heard a lot about your achievements last year from my wife and my son. Very impressive, I must say."

"Oh... thank you very much!" The girl blushed a bit, lowering her eyes timidly and, as if to hide her face, deciding to take a look at her watch. "There are only two minutes left, by the way, so I suppose we should hurry up! Ron and Neville are already inside, so..."

"Yes, you guys should get going. We wouldn't want you to be late to the feast, would we?" James winked at Hermione as Lily finally got up, fixing Gwen's long, straight and messy black hair before pushing her in the back lightly towards Harry whom the girl hugged immediately, peeking at Draco sullenly as the blond made an inviting gesture to Hermione with his hand, letting her enter Hogwarts Express first.

"See ya, dad," Harry smirked, receiving a goofy grin in return.

"See you, son. Make sure to be careful."

"Yeah, as always. Mom, until evening," he waved at the red haired witch who smiled back, nodding.

"Don't be overprotective, please! Let your sister make some friends, too!"

"Sure," he muttered, grabbing Gwen's hand and pulling her into the train before levitating their trunks with his magic inside as well while his sister gasped and yelped, whimpering pretendedly.

The door closed, and he turned to his sibling, wanting to say something, but she beat him to it.

"Well, you heard mom, didn't you? I'll go and find someone to befriend now! I'm not interested in watching your silly Malfoy chasing after stupid girls anyway!" Snapping her head pridefully, the girl grasped the handle of her trunk and pulled it towards one of the compartments located in the direction opposite to the one where Draco and Hermione went, leaving Harry stunned completely by her sudden bravado, standing there with his mouth open as the train was slowly beginning to start moving.

"Does she... oh my, she has a crush on Malfoy!" he muttered to himself in disbelief, laughing and shaking his head the next second.

He didn't really mind her leaving their bunch at all. Their company was hardly suitable for someone as young as her anyway, and besides, their mother was right. She needed to find friends as soon as possible, especially if she was to end up in a House different from Gryffindor.

Keeping chuckling at the ridiculous revelation, Harry walked slowly toward the compartment which his friend had entered a minute ago, and just as he was merely a few yards away from it he felt a heavy blow on his back which sent him on the floor right away. Barely managing to fall on his hands instead of his face in the last second as someone's long hair covered his face completely while multiple books fell around them, making very loud noise, Harry cursed quietly. Naturally, a few people looked out of their compartments and laughed at them, but, after noticing who exactly got knocked down, they all decided to make haste to retire before he would notice them.

Whoever had knocked him down was more lucky than Harry himself, though, resting on his back now which was certainly softer, cleaner and more comfortable than the cold surface of the floor. That alone was enough for the teen to feel angered, but the fact that this person didn't even apologize right away made him _furious_ , so he hissed venomously:

"Maybe you'll get the fuck up already? You are too heavy, my bones might crush any second now." He didn't know any long haired blokes at Hogwarts, so he was positive that it was a girl which made her a perfect target for such insult, especially as he felt that she wasn't really heavy at all.

"Sure, but only if you help me gather my stuff. It is your fault that we fell anyway, after all. You were walking too slowly."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew this voice too damn well. And oh, how much he hated her for such things she pulled from time to time...  
The girl let him go then, and both of them got up, wiping dust of their clothes without looking at each other. He didn't turn around to face her, only slightly turning his head to the left before saying:

"Are you incapable of doing this on your own? I didn't know you were a squib. Besides, it is your fault. You were running way too fast. To meet your dear boyfriend, I presume?" He nearly gasped at the strong push he felt on his back once again, nearly tripping as his foot sprained at one of the heavy tomes on the floor while he ran a few steps forward reflexively before finally turning around, meeting Daphne's gloomy gaze.

"Oh, Potter. So it is you. I should have expected such awful behavior from an unmannered bloke like you."

He rolled his eyes. She was a talented actress, he could give her so much credit. The way she pretended to despise him in public was always absolutely flawless.

As a compliment to her talent, he decided to keep up as good as he could.

"With this coming from you, I suppose I should be flattered," drawled the teen, putting his hands into his pockets and yawning while the girl crossed her arms on her chest.

They stood like that for a few seconds, dueling with their eyes. It was clear that nobody was going to bow down to collect the books first, so they kept staring at each other stubbornly until the door behind Harry's back slid open and Hermione walked out of the compartment, spotting Daphne instantly and putting her palm on his back reassuringly.

"Harry? Is everything alright?" the Gryffindor witch asked softly, frowning at the Slytherin who gave her a short hateful glance before returning her blue eyes to Harry's face.

"Yeah. Just a small misunderstanding here, nothing else. Go back to the guys, I'll join you shortly"

"Okay." Hermione gave him a strange smile and blew him a kiss, and although The Boy Who Lived couldn't see what she was doing behind his back, Daphne clearly did, and it made her narrow her eyes at the brown haired girl who paused for a moment, smirking victoriously before doing as her friend'd told her by walking back into the compartment, closing the door behind her back and leaving them alone.

The awkward silence fell upon the two teens again as the train began picking up speed. Looking around himself to make sure that nobody was watching them anymore, Harry frowned at Daphne.

The way she radiated anger was genuine now, he could feel it with his magic even though he wasn't a good sensor normally. And it was very weird. Much unlike her, too. He couldn't recall her being angry very often. And given that he couldn't even talk to her normally now, afraid to be overheard by other students, the black haired wizard felt quite frustrated as he really wanted to ask her what was wrong.

"The books. Will you be polite enough to at least help me gather them?" she asked, and her tone only confirmed his impression. She was clearly pissed... but why...?

"Uh... sure," he shrugged, giving her a baffled look before they bowed down simultaneously, quickly collecting a few tomes from the floor. "Here, the last one," he handed the heavy book to her, which she accepted, nodding calmly and touching his hand under the book before he would let go of it.

 _Oh, so that's what it is about...,_ he thought, blaming himself for being so dumb this morning as the piece of parchment slid into his fingers.

"Let me go now, you're on the way," she snapped, pushing him to the side after she'd put the books back into her trunk and storming forward. But then she stopped, turning around for a second and giving him a deadpan look. "Just for your information, I didn't really hurry to get to my boyfriend. Unlike you, I don't daydream about whoever my partner is." Daphne turned away again, proceeding towards the next wagon while he just stood there, feeling completely confused once again for what seemed like the tenth time this morning.

"What the hell is going on with all the women today...?" he muttered to himself, wiping dust off his palms and fixing the clip of his mantle before walking ahead to join his friends, making sure to hide Daphne's note in his pocket to read it later.

"Hey, guys," he sat down next to Ron who was eating a chocolate bar, reading some very old looking tome covered with strange drawings and ancient runes. Harry wasn't interested in such literature himself, but it was a passion Ron and Hermione shared in common, being able to spend hours on discussing various kinds of magic which were deviant in the young Potter's opinion.

"Hi, Harry," Neville smiled at him, waving at him with a Quidditch related magazine.

"What's up, Harry? You look like shit," commented his red haired friend, to which the green eyed teen only sighed, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Meh. I haven't slept at all this night. And also some bitch decided to ride me, so–"

"And who was she?" asked Draco politely, sipping some Butterbeer from the bottle he was holding.

"Eh? Who was who?" asked Harry in response, making Neville, Ron and Hermione chuckle at the same time while Draco remained as impassive.

"Well, the one who decided to ride you and thus didn't let you sleep last night."

This time, everyone laughed loudly as he blushed a little bit, but the wizard took the hit stoically.

"I wish I remembered. You should have attended that party, by the way. So many interesting people were there. Notts, Greengrass... even your brother Percy, Ron," Harry's didn't visibly react, but he made a mental note that talking about the event itself as well as the names of those he'd seen there wasn't prohibited by the spell of secrecy he was under. But what made him even more wary was Draco's strange reaction to his words. By the way his friend narrowed his gray eye at his reply, it became clear that Malfoy knew what exact party Harry was referring to.

"Percy? Gee, I wonder. That jerk has left our home in late June, shortly after we returned from Hogwarts. What was he doing there anyway?" asked Weasley phlegmatically, not looking away from his book.

"I dunno," Harry shrugged, making another silent note – in fact, he'd wanted to tell Ron the truth about Percy, but instead, his mouth made him lie against his will. "I saw him there talking to Nott, that's all. I had more important business than spying on them, you know."

"Like what?" Draco gave him a sly smirk while Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes, looking out the window at the beautiful landscapes that swept past them quickly.

"Like the reason why I didn't sleep this night," parried Harry, yawning. "Anyway, I'll go buy us something to chew, otherwise I'll actually fall asleep right here. Any orders?"

"Nah. I'll pass. I'll be right back, need to visit the toilet," Malfoy got up suddenly, walking out of the compartment without looking back, followed by the perplexed gaze of Hermione who looked at Harry then, saying:

"I'll pass, too. Thanks, though, Harry. Me and Ron will grab something for ourselves after we're done with the prefects' duties. We'll be going in ten minutes, by the way, so we might be absent by the time you return."

"Got it. Well, suit yourselves," Harry shrugged. "Neville?"

"Uh... I don't know, just something to drink, I guess. Malfoy is one greedy bastard, didn't even let me take a sip, and it's so hot outside," the boy complained half-jokingly, making young Potter smirk.

"Fair enough." He walked out, closing the door and making only a few steps before noticing Draco who was standing in the vestibule between two wagons, inviting his friend to join him with a nod of his head.

Harry frowned, but followed nonetheless, entering the empty at the moment room – one of the very few places within the train where they could discuss things privately on their way to school.

"So, what's up?" asked the black haired wizard, leaning against the closed entrance door of the train.

"You tell me," Malfoy looked unusually serious which was a bit confusing and anxious to Harry at the same time. "How the hell did you happen to attend that 'party'? They would never have let you anywhere close to the place."

"Uh...," The Boy Who Lived looked away shamefully, "That... Well, I'm not allowed to tell anyone."

"Oh, really? Is that it? Because it's always been such a great obstacle to you," replied the blond sarcastically, to which his friend sighed sadly.

"Man, I really can't tell you. I'm under a spell that prevents me from revealing it."

Malfoy's eyes widened as he reached out for his pocket. His hand slid inside of it, but he hesitated for some reason, not taking anything out yet and saying instead,

"Well, that's understandable. But still, what in Merlin's name were you doing there? I mean, why did you even go to that place to begin with?"

"Eh... Well, long story short, I was doing some business in London while I stumbled upon Greengrass and the Notts. I was cloaked, so they couldn't see me. I followed them and ended up at that party, but there was Protean Cham casted upon everyone who entered the place. Hence why I can't talk about whatever happened there."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him again, this time with uncovered suspicion.

"What business could you possibly have in London so late at night? You're not an Auror, are you?" Harry chuckled at Draco's question nervously, but then his face darkened as he noticed that the blond wasn't laughing or smiling.

There was a long, oppressive silence before both of them finally sighed.

"On three?" asked The Chosen One.

"Please. We're not some silly brats."

"Alright."

Both of them took similarly looking small pieces of parchment out of their pockets, with identical shining runes on them.

"Woah. That's... unexpected," finally muttered Harry.

"Yeah..."

"You should've told me!"

"Well, you too!"

"Damn you, bastard!"

Both of them smirked as they took their certificates away.

"So, they made you spend the entire summer chasing my mother's murderer, too?"

"Yep. But how come you happened to be doing the same thing all along?"

"Every rookie did it this summer, as far as I heard. I guess they wanted to see if there is anyone really talented among us. I was told that it was approved by the Minister of Magic himself and by the Unspeakables, too, so there should be some serious reason behind it." Draco shrugged, looking out the small window in the door and licking his lips thoughtfully.

" _Every_ rookie? Damn, and here I thought I was unique. Damn my old man for not telling me..."

Malfoy nodded.

"Yeah. I wonder how many guys like us are currently among those who are going to Hogwarts this year. I wasn't told that there were others of our age, although I kinda figured that you wouldn't be left outside this boat. Actually, I wasn't supposed to be a part of this, but Mr. Potter offered me a way to chase the murderer officially so that I wouldn't have to go to Azkaban if I find the bastard and deal with him accordingly. Very kind of your father to make such an offer to me, I must say, especially since I'm neither nearly as power as you nor, let's say, as talented as Hermione."

Harry scratched his chin, looking away.

"Well, if that's the case, there might actually be no more guys of our age at all. Was it my dad who told you that all the rookies were thrown onto this case?" Draco nodded. "He was probably talking about all those graduates who became Aurors this summer, didn't necessarily mean our peers. But, to be fair, dad has told me that he were going to expand my unit at some point, although he never went into any specifics, and I didn't feel like asking either. Therefore, I suppose we can assume that there are only two of us for now. But... just to be safe, have you checked Ron, Neville and Hermione?"

"Yes. None of them has been working on this case this summer, that's for sure. Unlike us, they have a lot to tell about their holidays." Both if them smiled ironically, recalling the memories of last summer that certainly wasn't the most pleasant in their lives.

"Hm. Figured as much. Well, in this case, I think we are really the only two. Unless we are seriously assuming that they also hired some weaklings or Slytherins like Theo," said Harry, making Draco smirk jovially.

"To be honest, knowing your father, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Bollocks! He'd never allow someone of those snakes anywhere near his office."

"Well, he has let a lazy arse like you, so why the hell not?"

"Oh, screw you, Malfoy!"

* * *

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione and Neville were sitting at Gryffindor's table while the entire hall burst into loud applause as the sorting hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables becoming quiet and still as it'd been before while Professor McGonagall invited the first kid to the the stool.

"Hey, Harry, is that your sister out there?" Seamus Finnegan pointed at Gwen who was standing at the left end of the line of first years, staring at the floor under her feet and looking quite nervous, being so pale and almost shaking.

"Yeah," the teen nodded, smiling at the girl warmly. He knew that she had nothing to worry about. No matter where she would end up, he would protect her from any danger, of that he was dead sure.

"Ready to get pissed when she gets sorted into Slytherin?" the boy smirked jokingly, receiving a deadly glare from his classmate.

"Yeah, fuck off." That would still be a rather unfortunate and certainly unwanted occasion.

"Oh, relax, Harry. We all know where she's going to end up," Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling at her friend's unusual nervousness.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you need to put on the hat and sit on the stool in order to get sorted," she said as she did every year, turning to the first years. "Blackrook, John!"

Draco propped his chin with his hand, watching the ceremony with a bored expression and muttering:

"Damn, I just wanna go sleep already, this is such a pain to sit and wait through this every year."

"Sleep? You mean eat." Ron smirked, looking quite hungry as he watched the young wizard going to the stool and putting the hat on his head.

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat immediately.

The Houses' table cheered and clapped as he went to sit down alongside his new family. Harry watched him impassively before muttering:

"Isn't it meant to be an unlucky year if the first one goes to Slytherin?"

"Nah, mate, these are just prejudices." Neville grinned at him, although he wasn't that sure himself. So far, this sign'd always worked.

"Maybe...," muttered the black haired wizard in response, finding Daphne at her table in a moment. She wasn't looking at him, peering into the line of the first years instead with a deadpan expression which indicated how nervous she really was to everyone who knew her well enough, and Harry was certainly among these people.

He frowned, scanning the line visually as well. Was her younger sister going to get sorted this year, too? He didn't really remember her mentioning it, so he wasn't sure.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" He flinched the next moment, spotting the brown haired girl who walked nervously toward the hat.

So there she was. The child appeared to be too slim even for her age, but other than that, the resemblance between her and her older sibling was clear.

_Oh well, here we go. Another Sly–_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There was the short, yet still quite notable pause before his table burst into loud applause, including himself. Harry watched the girl walk towards them timidly, sitting next to a few second years and apparently not believing what had just happened to her, still too shocked to greet anyone properly.

The teen turned his head to Daphne then. She looked displeased, but once she met his gaze compassionate, he was sure that she gave him the tiniest smile, to his surprise, before lowering her eyes to the table while Theo looked quite furious with his hands crossed on his chest, peering at his betrothed's sister hatefully from his spot.

"Ha, look at him. He seems to be about to shit his pants right here and now," Ron smirked, nodding at the enraged Slytherin. "Greengrass doesn't look pleased, either."

"Yeah... no wonder," muttered Harry thoughtfully, returning his gaze to other first years and not noticing Hermione and Draco's concerned gazes directed at him.

After some time, McGonagall finally said,

"Potter, Gwendolen!"

Fortunately it hadn't taken too long for the queue to come to her who was the only person The Boy Who Lived was interested in among those who remained. That's why he let out a sigh of relief when she came to the stool and put the hat on without any sign hesitation. Strangely enough, she hadn't looked any nervous for a while by now. He wondered why, but then the hat shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Their table burst in the loudest applause so far, Harry himself included, of course. He smiled cheerfully as he watched the happy looking girl run towards them, sitting down next to Astoria and...

His eyes widened.

Daphne's sister who'd looked pretty sullen and nervous until now suddenly smiled at Gwen, beginning to chat to her quietly and casually, as if they were _–_

Harry slapped his forehead, ashamed of being so stupid this day. That's why both of them had looked so nervous! Apparently the'd met each other back on the train and thus had wanted to get sorted into the same House...  
He found their mother sitting at the teacher's table, smiling happily at the girls as well and replying something quietly to her friend Professor Sinistra who sat next to her as usual. He would need to discuss this with her later, that's for sure...

"Well, what can I say? It sure brings back memories," said Hermione quietly, making Harry and Draco turn to her and frown at her mischievous smile directed at them.

"We've been friends long before sorting, though," said Draco, making it clear that he'd realized what all the four of his friends were thinking about at the moment.

"Still, a win is a win. We should be glad that your sister hasn't ended up in Slytherin and that there will be no stupid rivalry between them, Harry," reasoned Neville.

"Indeed. The snakes won't just swallow it, though. We gotta expect some retaliation from them in the upcoming days," added Ron grimly, to which Hermione nodded.

"Don't worry, guys," Harry smiled carelessly, meeting Dumbledore's calm gaze directed right at him. "I'm pretty sure that they will be the least of our concerns this year."

* * *

**A/N: First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!**

**Secondly, an important note - Astoria Greengrass is a few years younger in this timeline, because she happened to be born a bit later due to the problems James' investigation caused to the Greengrass family.  
And finally, the next chapter is going to be out shortly after the Orthodox Christmas!**

**Enjoy!**


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